Tony Khan Was Going To Let Ricky Starks Wrestle Until Doc Samson Ordered Testing

Ricky Starks is out of action for quite a while. He has a fractured neck and will not be able to compete. This was a scary situation that could have been a lot worse if Doc Samson didn’t step in.

While talking to Busted Open Radio, Tony Khan admitted that he feels terrible about Starks’ injury. Ricky said he was feeling good and Khan was going to let him continue, but Doc Samson called for more testing. That is when they discovered his fractured neck.

Thankfully, Ricky Starks won’t need surgery, but he will miss a bit of time from the ring.

“I feel terrible. I wasn’t going to say anything about it. Rico (Starks) in the match against Hangman had hurt his neck. He came out of it feeling okay, he really felt like he dodged a bullet. So we felt good about it but Doc (Samson) said ‘pull him out’ and had him go get checked out. And he had a little soreness and Doc sent him for an MRI. We didn’t know what to expect. Rico thought he was going to be okay and it turned out he had a small fracture in his neck.”

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“So he’s going to be sitting out for awhile. It’s very scary, but I’m really glad they took all the precautions they took. That’s why Doc sent him to get a second opinion and go get an MRI. They definitely told him to take a few months off and rest. It’s a very unfortunate situation. I wasn’t going to say that specifically, but it somehow got out. I talked to Starks about it last night and I’m really gutted for him, because he’s worked so hard to get to this spot. And he would’ve been a big part of Double or Nothing. I can’t say enough good things about Ricky Starks and what he does for AEW.”

Team Taz will certainly miss having Ricky Starks around, but his injury doesn’t mean he will be absent from television. AEW could very well figure out a way to use Ricky Starks in a non-wrestling role as his injury repairs. They did the same thing with Britt Baker as her knee healed and that angle was met with a lot of praise.

Is Ricky Starks a future AEW World Champion? Sound off in the comments below!

Thanks to Wrestling Inc for the quote