“Maybe he should kneel to Tony”- Wrestling fans go berserk over reports of AEW not having long-term plans for popular star amid rumors of WWE jump

One of AEW's most pivotal signings that they made back in 2020 has seemingly run its course in the company.

“Maybe he should kneel to Tony”- Wrestling fans go berserk over reports of AEW not having long-term plans for popular star amid rumors of WWE jump

Tony Khan adds injury time to former tag team champion's AEW contract (via- Forbes)

There’s been one name in AEW whose noticeable absence has the fans up in arms. He was last seen on television back in March, losing to Top Flight while partnering with Big Bill. As one would’ve guessed by now, he’s none other than Ricky Starks. There were previous reports of his creative dissatisfaction with the company, and that might’ve accounted for him being taken off AEW programming.

At first glance, it appeared like things would be sorted out mutually. However, as per Ibou of Wrestle Purists, AEW doesn’t have any long-term plans for Starks. There’s an overlap of a couple of pointers that need to be studied. First, it’s being said that the 34-year-old is frustrated over being creatively directionless. Secondly, AEW believes that Ricky himself doesn’t want to stay with them, and he’s apparently waiting for his contract to expire.

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Speaking of which, AEW president Tony Khan was asked about Ricky Starks prior to All In pay-per-view during a media call. Beating around the bush, Khan affirmed how successful Starks has been in All Elite Wrestling. The boss also stressed that the wrestler-in-question is being held in high regard in the promotion. At last, Tony did confirm that the 2023 Owen Hart Cup winner is still under an AEW contract.

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But at this point, he seems unlikely to extend his deal with AEW once it runs out of time. There are already rumors swirling in the market that Starks is unofficially WWE-bound. A recent report from Fightful suggested that WWE is indeed interested in bringing the Stroke Daddy over to NXT. But the only moot point here is exactly when Ricky’s AEW contract will be up. After that, he can make that highly-anticipated switch to WWE.

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Fans unite to voice their displeasure over Ricky Starks’ current AEW status

If Ricky Starks actually signs a contract with WWE, he’d be a great asset to them. And ever since learning that AEW isn’t planning any long-term ideas for the erstwhile FTW Champion, the fans have been clamoring for him to make that move.

Ricky Starks
Ricky Starks in AEW [via- Bleacher Report]

But again, it’d eventually boil down to when he’d be legally in a place to call it quits with All Elite Wrestling. For now, the fans have staged a ruckus on X, asking AEW to let Starks go. One fan even claimed that he’d need to kneel down to Tony Khan in order to be reinstated back into the storylines.

https://twitter.com/bluelinebenji/status/1828472547509494199

Some are predicting that Ricky will either show up at this weekend’s No Mercy PLE or on the debut episode of NXT on the CW Network in October. CM Punk has already teased some surprises for the night NXT transitions into network television and who knows if Starks’ one of them?

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