Ricky Starks has been pulled from his upcoming GCW appearances, and a new report provides more information.
AEW’s Ricky Starks appeared at GCW Dream On November 23. He was then announced for their December 14, as he was set to face Matt Cardona.
In an update, GCW announced that Ricky Starks had been pulled from all upcoming GCW appearances, including his announced match at their December 14 event, as well as their Hammerstein Ballroom show on January 19.
More Details
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful (via Fightful Select) reported the news ahead of the official announcement. Sapp cites GCW sources who claimed that AEW pulled Ricky Starks from the appearances. The report states that the decision was made on November 26.
Per Sapp, the reasons for the move were some comments that GCW’s Effy made towards Tony Khan’s father, Shad. Specifically, Effy made comments about AEW running the Hammerstein Ballroom and said that Shad effectively paid Tony Khan to stay away. After this, AEW was not interested in having Starks work AEW.
Effy’s comments can be seen here:
AEW sources say that Starks is able to take other independent dates from other companies.
Sapp also writes that some within AEW had suggested working Starks’ appearance into a work, but this was not the case.
Sapp also reported that AEW picked up Ricky Starks’ contract option, and his deal goes into 2025. He discussed his absence from AEW, which dates back to late March, in an interview with Chris Van Vliet that premiered on November 26.
It’s worth noting that Starks made an appearance at the Glory Pro event on November 27. There, he competed in a match against Kody Lane. Starks is also set to appear at the House of Glory event on January 17.
WrestleZone will provide more information as it becomes available.
