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AEW star Ricky Starks has commented on Cody Rhodes leaving the promotion to return to WWE.
The American Nightmare made a surprise comeback at WrestleMania 38 in a match against Seth Rollins. The two stars put on a hard-hitting bout, but the former TNT Champion emerged victorious. He's still involved in a feud with The Visionary, and they're slated to collide at WWE Hell in a Cell.
During a recent interview with Alex McCarthy of talkSPORT, FTW Champion Ricky Stars described Cody Rhodes' AEW departure as surprising but admitted that he still communicates with The American Nightmare.
“It was definitely jarring. He’s a guy that even before AEW, I really admired and looked up to just because of the type of wrestler he is. When he left it was a bit of a ‘woah’ but nothing changed, because I still talk to him and we’re still great friends. I still got to him for advice and I still appreciate him," said Starks.
Ricky Starks on Cody Rhodes helping him out in AEW
The FTW Champion's first match in AEW was against Rhodes in 2020, when he answered an open challenge from the latter for the TNT Championship.
During the conversation, Starks opened up about The American Nightmare helping him during his injury and added that he'll always ride with the former TNT Champion.
"I don’t care what anyone says about ‘Oh, he works there’ or this and that, that is a person who looked out for me. That’s a person who took care of me and helped me out, especially during the neck injury too. He really went out of his way to make sure that not only was I physically OK, but mentally OK. That was the struggle. I will always ride for Cody because he rode for me.”
Since returning to WWE, Cody Rhodes has been featured as a major star on RAW. It remains to be seen what the future holds for Rhodes in WWE after Hell in a Cell.
