Ricky Starks will not be appearing for GCW again after making an appearance at GCW on Saturday, just hours before going backstage at Full Gear. He defeated GCW mainstay Jimmy Lloyd to set up a future encounter.
AEW hasn’t used him in several months. On Tuesday night, GCW announced that Starks will no longer be attending their event on December 14 in Los Angeles, his scheduled match on December 28 in Seattle, and his unannounced match on January 19 at The Hammerstein Ballroom.
Fightful Select originally reported that AEW made the decision in response to statements made by Effy, who acts for the promotion, on Tony Khan’s father, Shad. Fightful does not have context for those comments yet. Starks can still accept individual dates from other companies.
GCW promoter Brett Lauderdale spoke on Game Changer Weekly about the situation. Lauderdale pointed out that Starks does not appear to be a true independent contractor since AEW pulled him.
He found out about the same time as everyone else, because he does not have a line of communication with AEW and has never spoken with Tony Khan. Lauderdale indicated that he heard Starks was being pulled but had not been given a reason.
Lauderdale stated, “What Effy says is Effy’s opinion. He is an independent wrestler. He says this stuff on his own personal podcast, which is not endorsed, amplified, or promoted by GCW. He is his own guy.”
Lauderdale pointed out that Effy does not receive permission to state what he can and cannot say on his own podcast, which should not be used to represent the product.
Lauderdale continued, “He’s a passionate person with opinions and he feels very strongly about GCW. He is a GCW soldier and sometimes he lets his emotions get the better of him. I don’t think Effy wishes….he’s just a passionate guy. I don’t have too much of an opinion about what he said. I guess, if you take it out of context, people can have different opinions on what he’s saying. He’s just one guy.”
You can check out Lauderdale’s appearance below:
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
