Ricky Starks was recently pulled from his announced GCW appearances, despite making a surprise arrival in the promotion to set up an angle withJimmy Lloyd. Some have suspected that was due to comments Starks made during his recent interview withChrisVanVliet, but DaveMeltzer's sources suggest another theory, which he detailed during this week's "Wrestling Observer Radio."
"So, Ricky Starks was booked for three dates," Meltzer recalled. "And, for whatever reason, Effy went on TikTok and decided to say some stuff about how unfair it was that, you know, AEW is running the Hammerstein three times before they're running their show in January." Meltzer further noted that Effy ended up going off on Tony Khan, and that he ultimately crossed the line during his rant. "He said that Tony's father pays him to stay away." Meltzer also opined that GCW owner Brett Lauderdale should've told Effy to apologize immediately. However, Bryan Alvarez noted that Lauderdale did comment on what Effy said, explaining that the GCW star is "absolutely independent" and that nothing he says on his podcast or otherwise is endorsed by GCW.
Currently, Starks is still signed to an AEW contract, and outside of GCW, none of his other appearances have been publicly cancelled, such as his involvement with HOG'sWatch the Throne event in Chicago next January.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "WrestlingObserver Radio" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
