Photo: AEW's Ricky Starks Confirms He's 'Ready To Wrestle'

AEW's Ricky Starks has been MIA from the promotion for some time now, with rumors swirling that it could have anything to do with his health or his contract status, but the mystery remains. Starks took to social media to assuage fans' fears about his physical condition. "Hard work and nothing less," Starks wrote over a picture of himself at the gym. "Ready to wrestle because that's what I was meant to do. That and be #Absolute."

Hard work and nothing less. Ready to wrestle because that's what I was meant to do
That and be #Absolute 🕺 pic.twitter.com/4Lhpmq3APK

— Ricky Starks (@starkmanjones) September 24, 2024

Starks has not wrestled for AEW since March, losing an AEW World Tag Team Championship Tournament Quarter-Final Match to Top Flight alongside Big Bill. Starks wrestled a match against QT Marshall on the indies, but other than that, the former FTW Champion has not been seen. Getting updates about Starks has been a thorny matter, as stories about his whereabouts and mindset tend to contradict each other. During AEW's biggest show of the year, All In on August 25, Starks said that he was seeing "Twister" in 4DX while the rest of the AEW roster was in Wembley Stadium for the event.

Starks saying he's "ready to wrestle" comes just a day before AEW is set to hold "AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam" in New York City. TNT Champion Jack Perry is set to defend his title in an open challenge on the show, annually one of AEW's biggest non-PPV events and is known to feature surprises, so there is a possibility Starks will answer Perry's challenge or appear at the event in some way. Starks joked about the open challenge on X, saying he hopes former ROH World Champion Homicide answers the challenge.