EFFY has broken his silence on the recent situation with Tony Khan, Ricky Starks and GCW.
The GCW wrestler recently put his foot in his mouth regarding AEW boss Tony Khan. He made comments on a podcast about AEW running the Hammerstein Ballroom. In addition, he said that Shad effectively paid Tony Khan to stay away from him.
These got back to the AEW President who promptly pulled Ricky Starks his upcoming GCW appearances. EFFY has stayed quiet until now but recently spoke with BodySlamNet’s own Game Changer Weekly podcast about the situation.
EFFY spoke about Ricky Starks losing his GCW appearances and Starks’ future. He didn’t accept blame for the appearance being canceled. However, he noted how it is something Starks and AEW have to deal with.
“I can’t speak for Ricky Starks, right? I want the best for Ricky. That may be at AEW, that may be at WWE, that may be out here on the indies, that may be with GCW. And I don’t think that dream is out the window.” EFFY said.
To everyone who’s saying, ‘Oh, it’s EFFY’s fault he can’t be here,’ this is how things are done in wrestling. It’s something that he’s going to have to go work out on his own. AEW’s going to have to work out with him. They are correct, he is under contract with them. But, you know, I haven’t seen him on TV in a ten-month period. I haven’t seen him doing much, and the timing, to me, is a little laughable.”
Ricky Starks Being Pulled Was Not ‘An EFFY Problem’
As he continued, EFFY kept not taking any responsibility for his actions. He boasted how he was trending fourth in the US on Twitter after the fallout. However, he added how the general reaction did not blame him for the response (a somewhat dubious claim). In addition, he also doesn’t think Starks being pulled was “really an EFFY problem.”
“At one point on Tuesday, I’m trending #4 in the nation. Not Tony Khan, not Ricky Starks, not AEW—EFFY. EFFY is trending fourth in the United States because there’s a lot of reaction to this. The reaction is kind of split between ‘this is very silly’ and ‘this is not the straw that broke the camel’s back.’ You had guys working Bloodsport, you had Ricky showing up at the Mall. This was someone pointing out a way out, and they took the way out—and that’s fine.”
“The news articles confirming with them were a little confused. They were going, ‘Is this the reason you want us to print? This is the reason you want us to put with this, specifically?’ This wasn’t like, ‘Oh, maybe it’s this.’ This was the specific reason given for why he was pulled from the show. I don’t think this was really an EFFY problem.”
Ricky Starks was scheduled to face Matt Cardona at GCW’s “Highest In The Room 3.” Starks was replaced (somewhat fittingly enough) by EFFY.
GCW owner Brett Lauderdale also spoke about the controversy behind Starks’ appearance, claiming he does not have any contact with AEW or Tony Khan.
