"Very telling of the person I am" - Top AEW star shuts down criticisms for allegedly 'not aligning' with Tony Khan's creative direction

AEW star Ricky Starks turned many heads after an explosive promo during last week's Dynamite. While reports initially alleged his promo was "unscripted," the star himself has now shut those rumors down.

Fans online have often clamored for Ricky Starks to be more prominently booked in AEW, but after an unfortunate run with the FTW Championship, many seem to have lost hope. After last week's show, it's safe to say that fans online have their hopes restored for the future of the Absolute star.

During his recent interview with Alex McCarthy of Inside The Ropes, Ricky Starks called out the "weird narrative" about his AEW promo last week.

"I think there’s a weird narrative that I went off script, but there’s no script to go off of. If anything, you could just say I freestyled it, and that’s ultimately what I did. I think it’s very telling of the person I am – bro, if I’m able to do that after a match? I shouldn’t be F’ed with on promos at all." (04:42 onward).

Starks has clearly set a precedent for himself going forward, but he still doesn't enjoy being compared to others. The star recently permanently shut down numerous comparisons between himself and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

Missed out on the recent AEW Dynamite? You can check the results here.

Ricky Starks also responded to the critics of his promo style in AEW

Fans online have long since called Ricky Starks underrated, but over the past two weeks, it seems like Tony Khan has finally heard all the clamoring online. Despite this, Starks still addressed some of the criticisms he'd been receiving until his interview.

During the same interview, the Absolute star also spoke on fan perceptions of his promo skills and gave his detractors a defiant response.

"I don’t think people really thought that I was prepared and I really until I grabbed the mic and just started to riff and speak from the heart. Last Wednesday I more than proved myself. I can stand toe-to-toe with any of these so-called great promos. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve heard say ‘Ricky’s gotta slow down’ and to that, I tell those people to go F themselves." (02:45 onward).

After his loss against MJF during last night's AEW Dynamite Winter is Coming, what could be next for Absolute Ricky Starks?

If you use the transcriptions above, please credit Inside The Ropes and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.