Ricky Starks reflects on his promo battle with Adam Copeland.
On the October 14, 2023 episode of AEW Collision, Ricky Starks and Adam Copeland got into a verbal joust as Starks was trying to address Bryan Danielson. While Starks was speaking, he turned his attention to Copeland, telling him not to look at him with his bug eyes.
Copeland fired back, calling Ricky a "vanilla midget" and saying Starks took his style from The Rock. Starks commented, "That sent me over the edge."
Appearing on Hold The Mayo, Starks was asked how much of that was improv and if Copeland was expecting that response.
"You know how it is. You know how it is. It's just like, I'm trying to really choose how I want to navigate my career at this point [smiles]. I did say it off the cuff, but to me, it wasn't a big deal. The response afterward, I want you to know, you know how you're going back and forth with your partners, and y'all are roasting each other, and you can tell that they got a little bit hurt by it. If you watch it back, I got my glasses on, and I said, 'okay.' [shrugs shoulders]. You could see by my response, I was like, 'Wow, that really sent me over the edge,' then I kept it moving. I'm too cool with that shit. It's just one of those things.
"I promise you, I did not get eaten up by his response, he didn't eat me up. If anything, he looked stupid with calling me what he did. I really wish I would have hit him back, I thought about it after, I wish I would have said, 'Ay dawg, I'm actually black. So, you're wrong. Sorry.' It was funny."
The segment would end with a brawl, and carry over into later in the night, with Copeland and Starks trading blows.
Copeland and Starks have yet to have an official match in AEW.
Starks & Big Bill lost the AEW Tag Team Championships to Sting & Darby Allin on the February 7 episode of AEW Dynamite.
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