Last Wednesday on AEW Dynamite, Ricky Starks took an absolutely gigantic leap forward as a performer delivering the promo of his career. Ricky Starks showed the world that he has heart.
It is often said that first impressions cannot be overcome as people form opinions based on those impressions especially in professional wrestling. Ricky Starks destroyed that notion this past week on Dynamite in my opinion.
Ricky Starks not only delivered an incredible promo this week but shattered whatever image or perceptions that the wrestling fans had of him and whatever ceiling that they thought he could never break through.
First Impressions:
My first exposure to Ricky Starks the performer was likely the same as many fans as well on the NWA 70th Anniversary show. For the recently relaunched NWA, that had not only many years of brand damage to try and work through, but the issue of finding the young talent that WWE and AEW didn’t already have under contract yet or flew under the radar that they may have missed signing.
Billy Corgan was able to find an absolute diamond in the rough when he signed Ricky Starks to an NWA contract. Professional wrestling is an industry that is constantly looking for the next big talent, much like professional sports and Hollywood, it is all about finding the right person to be your next big star.
My first impressions on Ricky Starks were that this guy has a ton of charisma, but the way he presents himself is too much like he is copying off the Rock. There are certainly worst people to model yourself off of and there is of course no question the Rock is a GOAT, but you need to make your act your own.
It is certainly fine to draw inspiration from the legends and greats of the past, but you need to put your own spin on it and making it your own. The last thing you want as a performer is to be accused of just copying off someone else’s work. This is an accusation that has plagued Ricky Starks for his entire career until this past week when he stepped out of that shadow, but more on that later.
Say whatever you want about Billy Corgan and the NWA today, but in 2018, Billy Corgan saw something in a 28-year-old kid that no one else saw and took a gamble on him. Starks immediately became one of the very few bright spots of the NWA’s Powerrr program on YouTube. As a longtime fan, I knew that this is someone that could be a major star if he is able to come into his own and wasn’t just copying the Rock.
Starks would go on to win the inaugural NWA TV title under the Corgan era, but it was a very short reign as Ricky Starks had caught the eye of AEW management, who wanted him as part of their roster. Ricky is arguably the only diamond in the rough that Corgan’s NWA has been able to produce over the years and the NWA was too small a pond for a talent the caliber of Ricky Starks to call home for long.
AEW Run:
Ricky Starks made his AEW debut against one of his best friends in the business, Cody Rhodes. Despite coming up in a losing effort in his debut challenging for the TNT Championship, Ricky Starks got to show the biggest audience of his career that night, he is someone that they should keep their eye on.
For me personally, I loved seeing Ricky Starks, finally get seen by a national television audience instead of just some small YouTube show audience. Ricky would soon be put in a group led by former wrestler, Taz. Although, this exposure as part of Team Taz certainly helped give Ricky exposure by being in major storylines including facing the legendary Sting, Starks career wasn’t meant to be a part of a group.
Starks would eventually be given Taz’s made-up FTW Championship, which is his first unofficial championship during his AEW tenure. He would go on to hold this title for 378 days, making him the longest reigning champion in the title’s history including its inventor, Taz.
Ricky Starks is a grinder, and it is something that many fans have taken for granted of Ricky. As a whole Ricky Starks is someone that for the most part AEW didn’t really present him as a big deal, but that never stopped Ricky from continuing to grind.
In life not just in wrestling, life doesn’t always play out the way that you want it to and often times life will knock you down. On a personal note, 2022 has been the hardest year of my life and I’ve taken the most vicious hits you could take and although I’ve been knocked down, I got back up. Ricky Starks is someone that has been doing that his whole career.
In life it isn’t just about resilience of being able to take the hits life throws at you, but to take advantage of those life changing opportunities that life throws at you as well. You take those opportunities, and you do the most with them as you can and that is exactly what Ricky Starks did on Dynamite.
The Promo:
After Ricky Starks won the Dynamite Diamond ring, and therefore earning a world title shot, the reigning champion came to berate his future challenger. Now, for full disclosure from me here, I don’t believe Ricky Starks has a snowballs chance in hell in beating MJF in his first title defense. I’m a big fan and supporter of Ricky Starks and as any long-time readers of my work know that I’m a big MJF fan as well. 2022 has been the year of me writing about MJF.
MJF delivered his usual evisceration of his opponent, and what happened next truly surprised me, Ricky Starks went and tore MJF apart. MJF is arguably the greatest mic worker today and for Ricky Starks to have taken the shots of MJF like “Dollar Store Dwayne and the Pebble” and counter it by calling MJF “a fifth rate Roddy Piper” and questioning MJF’s heart was pure gold.
Ricky Starks admitted that he had a promo written but didn’t deliver it. That may have been the best decision Ricky could have made here because the promo he did deliver not only came from the heart, but the audience could tell he believed every word that came out of his mouth and his passion bleed through every word.
This is a promo that will be a defining moment or potential turning point in his career, where he isn’t just seen as a good hand or too small or a mid-carder for life. The Ricky Starks that cut that promo is someone that could truly connect with an audience and a company could build up as a face of the company.
Final Thoughts:
Although, I don’t think Ricky Starks has a chance of beating MJF at Winter Is Coming, I do think Ricky Starks could be a future World champion if he continues to deliver promos that resonate with the audience and delivers in the ring.
There are a limited number of spots on the card, and it is a cutthroat business especially at the top, every opportunity needs to be taken advantage of and Ricky Starks hit a grand slam with this promo.
The future looks bright for Absolute Ricky Starks, as long as he keeps showing his heart and passion, the audience will follow him, and he is someone that screams major star when not if. Passion, fire, charisma are things that cannot be taught, and Ricky Starks has all these IT factors, and we are witnessing greatness beginning to show and we just need to sit back and enjoy the rise of Ricky Starks.
ITTMP
