Ricky Starks Defends Decision to Attend WrestleMania 40

Ricky Starks has been a pivotal figure in AEW since 2020, and he is always ready to defend himself. In fact, Starks has now defended his decision to attend WrestleMania 40 this year.

At WWE WrestleMania 40 Sunday, Cody Rhodes won the biggest bout of his career by dethroning Roman Reigns as the Undisputed WWE Champion. Many of his friends were in attendance to witness this historic win, and that included Ricky Starks.

In an interview with WhatCulture Wrestling, Ricky Starks shared his experience attending WWE WrestleMania 40 and witnessing Cody Rhodes win the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. He also discussed his reaction to The Undertaker’s entrance.

Starks joked with Cody about the video capturing his excitement after The Undertaker’s entrance, emphasizing that it wasn’t solely because of Cody’s win. He expressed gratitude for Cody’s support and how Cody had positively impacted his life and family behind the scenes. Starks emphasized that beyond wrestling, Cody’s support and actions had earned his loyalty and respect.

“Dude, I made a joke to Cody. I was like, that video, they caught the video of me acting like that after I just saw ‘Taker come out, dude. It wasn’t because you were winning. I was making that joke with him. Bro, it was crazy. It was really cool to witness that because Cody…people make all these jokes about me being Cody’s friend and all this stuff, but the reality of it is that I shouldn’t feel like I can’t talk about a friend that I have. Cody has done more for me behind closed doors and for my family than anyone will ever know. I don’t have to explain myself or justify any type of relationship I have with someone. But I will just end it to that and say, beyond this wrestling s***, he’s done more for me than I could have ever asked someone to do.

So in return, he will always have my loyalty and respect because that is how, me as a person, that’s how I operate. So to see that, to see that live, to know the things that he went through the year prior, that was really cool to see because as a friend, you should always want to see somebody succeed. I was there to see Jade have her WrestleMania match, and I was so floored. Me and Jade were training so hard months prior to doing all that. No one knows that. It’s cool because I’m invested as a person outside of wrestling to see these people succeed in what they are working towards, and they would do the same for me. So it was great to be there and to share that with everybody in the box.”

Reflecting on attending events to support his friends, Starks dismissed the idea of tribalism in wrestling fandom. He recounted attending WWE Royal Rumble to witness Cody Rhodes’ appearance, highlighting that someone had leaked security footage of his attendance.

Starks reiterated his stance on supporting friends in various companies, emphasizing his belief in unity over divisive tribalism within the wrestling community.

“I loved it. I have no problem with supporting friends at other companies and all that stuff. I don’t believe in that tribalism b******. You got people who’ve never been in wrestling that try to push that agenda, but I don’t care. When I went to go see Cody at the Rumble, someone leaked the security footage. It’s not like I was trying to be seen. Someone leaked that footage. It was so bizarre, so weird.”

In the meantime, Ricky Starks remains absent from AEW television and he has expressed his frustrations about that fact. Regardless, we’ll have to wait and see what will become of Ricky Starks in the end.

What are your thoughts on Ricky Starks attending WWE WrestleMania 40 to support his friend Cody Rhodes? Let us know in the comments below.