Ricky Starks Opens Up About 'Mindf***' Of AEW Absence

Former AEW World Tag Team Champion Ricky Starks is someone that has made a number of headlines in 2024 for the simple fact that he hasn't been around. He was last seen in AEW back in March, and since then, rumors and reports on his whereabouts have been rampant. Starks was able to address a lot of the speculation about his current position in AEW, as well as his future, recently on "Insight," where he revealed how difficult it has been for him to not be wrestling on a consistent basis.

"I've just been home. It's kind of a mindf*** because I'm in my prime and it sucks when you're on such a momentum, riding the wave, doing work and doing stuff, and then to just be at home for so long, you're kind of like 'whoa.' It kind of throws it off. I am not meant to be at home. I'm not meant to be a homebody in this current phase in my life. I'm not meant to be just chilling at home and doing not the thing that I've been busting my ass to do for the past 13 years."

While he hasn't been featured in AEW for the majority of 2024, Starks has managed to get involved in some independent shows as of late, with the most recent being GCW's Dream On, which has since led to him being booked for a match against Matt Cardona at GCW's Highest in the Room 3 on December 14. He has also made appearances for companies like Glory Pro Wrestling and Big Time Wrestling since his last AEW match, clearing up rumors of him not being medically cleared to compete.

As for why Starks has been away from AEW for so long, multiple different people have a variety of answers. But when you ask Starks, even he doesn't know.

"Beats me. I could have 1,000 theories about what's really going on. The fact of the matter is that if I don't have a definitive answer, I can't just make up an answer for people and just assume. Would I love to know the exact reason? For sure. Do I have speculations about why? Absolutely. But that does nothing to speak on things that I speculate, does nothing for the situation. So I think it's just a matter of, it sucks, it's been a very cold day here in Austin. It's been a very cold day. May have been cold for the past nine months, not sure. But thankfully, I have a sweater, and I'm always ready to keep the warmth going."

Starks was backstage at the recent Full Gear pay-per-view on November 23, an appearance that was reportedly very welcome to those behind the scenes. His future in AEW might be more of the same, as his contract with the company isn't set to expire until spring 2025. Fightful Select reports that his contract was originally set to expire in spring 2024, but AEW picked up an extra year option to retain him. However, since that option was picked up, Starks has not been featured on AEW television.

Please credit "Insight" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.