"Hurtful" - Ricky Starks' emotional response to fans asking if he is retired

AEW star Ricky Starks shed some light on questions from fans who asked if he was done with professional wrestling.

Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs have been in a heated feud against Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland over the past few weeks. The Team Taz members recently defeated their rivals in a tag team match on the April 13 edition of Dynamite.

During his appearance on the Wrassle Rap podcast, Starks admitted that he was emotional when people were already judging his in-ring career and longevity. He added that while he enjoys being a commentator, he still doesn’t want people to disregard him as an active wrestler.

Starks began doing commentary on Rampage in September 2021, when he replaced Mark Henry.

“I got a lot of messages asking if I am retired, and that s**t is hurtful, dawg,” he said. “That s**ks to hear fans asking me if I am retired, you know, because they don’t see me enough. I don’t ever want the sun to go down on me in that sense, you know what I am saying? I like doing commentary on Rampage, but I don’t want people to forget that I am still active, I don’t want people to think that I am just some young retiree because I am doing commentary,” Starks said. [H/T Wrestling Inc]

Aside from being a commentator, The Absolute is also the reigning FTW Champion for 286+ days now. He defeated former teammate Brian Cage for the title at Fyter Fest 2021.

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Ricky Starks previously said that he is a top-caliber player

Ricky Starks recently had an interview with Forbes' Blake Oestriecher and said that even before he was born, he was destined to be a main event player.

He added that he is a top talent within AEW and that he had to work hard for many years just to get there.

“Even before I was born, I think I was always meant to be a main eventer,” Ricky Starks said. “In any situation, any company, any place anywhere in this world, I’m a main eventer, first and foremost…Within the AEW world, I’m definitely a main eventer. I’ve been doing it for 11 years and really had to maul my way through the independent scene, especially when I wasn’t a big name and when I wasn’t someone that everyone knew of.” [H/T WrestleZone]

Ricky Starks has certainly proved his mettle during his time in AEW. With numerous good matches and a solid run with the FTW Championship, Starks has shown that he is immensely talented. It remains to be seen whether The Absolute will book his spot in the main event scene in the near future.

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