Ricky Starks aims to get the respect he deserves, perhaps even more than he’s focused on winning gold.
Speaking with Nick Hausman of Wrestling Inc., Starks was asked about how he and Hobbs came up short in the three-way tag title match at AEW Double or Nothing. “The Stroke Daddy” responded by noting that the two men are even more hungry now. He stated that they’re fired up, and they want to reap the rewards of their hard work.
“The difference though in tonight compared to Double or Nothing, I think there’s a little bit more fire behind us in terms of how we feel at the company, how we feel about Keith Lee and Swerve, and how we feel about the Young Bucks,” said Starks. “So I think eventually what happens is people get tired of busting their ass and not really reaping the rewards for that, for the hard work that they put in.
“And eventually people don’t wanna play by the rules anymore, and when I say people, I’m talking about me and Hobbs. So I think that’s where we’re at, we’re at that point where we’re tired, man. We’re sick of it. So there’s a lot more fire now than there was.”
The FTW Champion went on to emphasize that the match is about getting the respect that he and Hobbs believe they deserve.
“I think at the end of the day, people should realize and remember that it’s not about necessarily the tag titles,” said Starks. “I’ll be straight with you. It’s not really about that in the grand scheme of things. It’s the cherry on top, but what it really is about is the respect. Ultimately the respect.
“I said it on Road To. We deserve the same respect that these people that come in here, from wherever they came from, just get handed to them. The guys, two guys that held down AEW during the pandemic, we should be in the same conversation. That’s what it’s about. It’s about the respect and dignity that is owed to us.”
When the growth of the pairing of Hobbs and Starks came up, the latter made it clear that the duo has always had good chemistry, but people are acknowledging it now.
” It’s weird because I think me and Hobbs have always had chemistry,” said Starks. “We’re actually friends, we’re real friends. We have a true friendship. I can’t say the same for a lot of people that are tag teams now in wrestling. But me and Hobbs have a really true friendship. It’s not a matter of us just finding it. We’ve always had it. It was a matter of people such as yourself and other viewers just taking the time to acknowledge it and actually see it for what it was.
“And the only way that you were gonna see it was when we were actually having to go up against people who are ‘This guy’s so charismatic’ or ‘This guy’s so cool’ or whatever the case may be. Now people are being like oh well, oh, it just happened. No, it’s been there. It’s been there since day one, and I think it’s really cool to see people kinda rally behind us in a way and give us those props.”
