During an appearance on Renee Paquette’s Oral Sessions podcast, AEW star Ricky Starks talked about his time as a WWE extra:
“When I was brand new and getting the call, I was like, ‘This is how I get hired.’ It’s a great feeling. That’s how I learned the most. I sat up on RAW days in the crowd with William Regal while they’re testing the music, and he’ll tell me these stories and me asking questions. I’m a very observant person so sometimes I just sit back and watch everything. It was great. It was an awesome time, but for me, at a certain point, I got tired of it because I felt like there was a ceiling that I kept hitting every time I came. ‘Well, if ya’ll didn’t care for me after the 17th time, how is this 30th time going to be any different?’”
Starks said the following about his backstage segment with Ryback in 2013:
“I got slapped in the face three times. He never told me he was going to slap me, so when you see me tense up, that’s me being legit. Initially, I was trying to cry, and Michael Hayes came to me and was like, ‘You ain’t gonna cry like that in a real fight, would you?’ I said, ‘Hell nah, you’re right. I’d bow up to a motherfucker.’ I really enjoyed it, they paid for my shirt that he ripped up. I remember walking to the back, and Miz and CM Punk were like, ‘Good job on that segment.’ That was the end of it.”
