Ricky Starks

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Ricky Starks
FTW Champion in 2021
Birth nameRichard Starks
Born (1990-02-21) February 21, 1990 (age 34)
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Ricky Starks[2]
"Absolute" Ricky Starks
Billed height6 ft 0 in (183 cm)[1]
Billed weight194 lb (88 kg)[1]
Billed fromNew Orleans, Louisiana[2]
Debut2011

Richard Starks (born February 21, 1990) is an American

FTW Champion. Starks is also known for his time with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), where he was the inaugural winner of the revived NWA World Television Championship
.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (2012–2019)

Starks idolized wrestlers including

triple threat match against Jaykus Plisken and Big Ricky. Since 2012, Starks became a regular talent featured across numerous promotions in the state of Texas
, like Anarchy Championship Wrestling and Inspire Pro Wrestling.

During the following years, he worked four other matches for WWE as an enhancement talent, losing against wrestlers like Jinder Mahal,

Dash Wilder). On the July 29, 2013 episode of Raw, he appeared in a backstage video where he was bullied, mocked, and slammed through a table by Ryback.[3][4][5][6] Starks again made an appearance on the March 19, 2018 episode of Raw as a US Marshal, arresting Roman Reigns
, only for Starks to be attacked by Reigns.

National Wrestling Alliance (2018–2020)

Starks made his debut for the

NWA National Championship, a match which Stevens won.[9] Soon after, Starks was entered into a tournament to determine the inaugural holder of the NWA World Television Championship.[10] At the Hard Times event on January 24, 2020, he defeated Eddie Kingston in the first round, Matt Cross in the second round, Tim Storm in the semi-finals and Trevor Murdoch in the finals to become the new NWA World Television Champion.[11] Starks lost the title two days later to Zicky Dice, which was aired on the March 3 episode of Powerrr due to tape delay.[12] On May 18, it was announced that Starks was no longer with the NWA as his contract had expired.[13]

All Elite Wrestling (2020–present)

Team Taz (2020–2022)

See also: Team Taz
Taz and Hook
.

On the June 17 episode of

Will Hobbs, Starks aided Brian Cage in attacking Robert Anthony and Darby Allin after their match, creating an alliance between the two.[17] The team, managed by Taz and now known as Team Taz, began feuding with Allin as they faced Allin and Jon Moxley on the July 29 episode of Dynamite where they were defeated.[18] At the All Out pay-per-view on September 5, Starks participated in the Casino Battle Royale, but he was eliminated by Allin.[19] On the September 30 episode of Dynamite, Starks was defeated by Allin in a singles match.[20]
On the November 18, 2020 episode of Dynamite,
Preston "10" Vance, but would fail to win the match at Revolution
.

In September 2021, in addition to still being a wrestler on the show, Starks joined the Rampage commentary team, replacing Mark Henry.[25]

On the July 20, 2022 episode of Dynamite, Starks issued an open challenge for his FTW Championship, where he defeated Cole Karter. After the match, he issued another open challenge for the following week's Dynamite, which was answered by Danhausen.

World championship pursuits (2022–2023)

At

Unsanctioned Lights Out match, where Starks defeated Hobbs, ending the feud.[30]

On the 23rd of November episode of Dynamite, Starks defeated

Dynamite Dozen Battle Royale, last eliminating Ethan Page to add the Dynamite Diamond Ring as a second prize to his AEW World Championship match.[32] The following week on Dynamite, Starks and Friedman faced off in a heated promo, with Starks insulting Friedman's cheap tactics of gaining acclaim, compared to the hard work Starks put in, resulting in Friedman hitting Starks with a low blow, only for Starks to retaliate with a spear, knocking Friedman down.[33] The following week at Winter is Coming, MJF defeated Starks, retaining the AEW World Championship and winning the Dynamite Diamond Ring.[34]

Following this loss, Starks entered a feud with Chris Jericho, who attempted to recruit Starks into his Jericho Appreciation Society (JAS) group on the December 22 edition of Dynamite, but failed as Starks declined, insulting Jericho and JAS members, Sammy Guevara and Daniel Garcia in the process. This led to JAS member Jake Hager attacking Starks along with the remainder of the group until Starks was saved by Action Andretti, who was also feuding with the JAS.[35] Two weeks later on the January 4 edition of Dynamite, Starks defeated Jericho in a singles match, although he and Andretti were attacked by the JAS post-match, including Hager powerbombing Starks through a table.[36] Starks avenged the attack, defeating Hager on the January 18 edition of Dynamite.[37] On February 8, Starks faced the JAS in a Gauntlet match, defeating Matt Menard and Angelo Parker, before losing to Daniel Garcia.[38] Starks and Jericho's feud culminated at Revolution, where Starks once again defeated Jericho.[39]

Starks then began a feud with

Owen Hart Foundation Men's Tournament, defeating Robinson and Powerhouse Hobbs, to advance to the tournament finals.[42][43] On the July 15 episode of AEW Collision, he defeated CM Punk in the finals to win the men's tournament.[44] On the August 5 episode of Collision, Starks unsuccessfully challenged Punk for the "Real World Championship", with Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat serving as the special outside enforcer due to Stark cheating his way to defeat Punk in their previous two matches. After the match, Starks assaulted Steamboat with Steamboat's own belt, thus turning heel.[45][46]

Alliance with Big Bill (2023–present)

As a result of his actions against Steamboat, AEW (

tornado tag team match on the February 7 episode of Dynamite, ending their reign at 123 days.[52]

Professional wrestling style and persona

Starks referred to his style as a "pastiche" of other wrestlers, most notably The Undertaker's selling and Shinjiro Otani.[53]

Personal life

Starks grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana and was raised by a single mom with two siblings.

African-American (Starks has described himself as "light-skinned"),[55] something that was a source of bullying and fights in his childhood.[54][55]

Filmography

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2021 Rhodes To The Top Himself

Championships and accomplishments

References

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External links

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