Ricky Starks On Being Backstage At WWE Royal Rumble: I Don’t Give A Shit About Tribalism

Ricky Starks is a grown-ass man, and no one will tell him that he can’t support his friend Cody Rhodes when he’s about to win the WWE Royal Rumble. 

Cody Rhodes and Ricky Starks are known to have a close relationship, and Ricky Starks was backstage at the WWE Royal Rumble 2023 when Cody Rhodes returned to action and won the titular Battle Royal. 

Speaking about being backstage at the Royal Rumble for his friend, Ricky Starks told Stephanie Chase that he doesn’t care about tribalism. Nothing is more important than his friends.

“It was important to me because that’s my friend. That’s a guy who has helped me out through a neck injury. That’s a guy who had helped me out through my career, even before AEW, when I was an extra at SmackDown. This guy talked to me and gave me advice when he didn’t have to,” said Ricky. “That’s what’s important. I don’t give a shit, and I want everyone who’s watching this to do this verbatim. I don’t give a shit if there’s some tribalism from the fans. I don’t care if someone from my company or over there thinks it’s a bad look. I don’t give a fuck. That is my friend. One thing about me is I’m genuinely going to be a friend no matter what, and if you ride for me, I’m gonna ride for you. So it’s important that I go there and see a guy who is ultimately on the biggest chapter of his career. It was important for me to be there because I would want the same damn thing. 

“Like I said, I don’t care what tribalism happens from the fans, from the people I work with, over there, it was important for me to go and support my friend on one of the biggest nights of his life because that’s what friends do. If there’s one thing about me, it’s that I’m a genuine down-ass person that will ride for my friends, and nobody will question me for that. I refuse to let anybody question me. Or even try to give me any type of pushback on it. Because I’m a grown-ass person, I can do that,” said Starks.

Ricky Starks is in for a major moment in his career when he faces Chris Jericho one-on-one at AEW Revolution on Sunday, March 5. 

Jericho recently praised Ricky for picking up on little nuances when working together. Fans can read more here.

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