Ricky Starks Enjoys Doing Commentary, But He’s A Wrestler First And Foremost

Ricky Starks has become a staple of AEW Rampage as one of four men sharing the commentary booth for the show. 

Ricky replaced Mark Henry in the booth as Henry was moved to doing the main event interview. 

When asked on Busted Open Radio about his life in the commentary booth, Ricky said, “It’s very beneficial to me, not only to get my practice in for right now, but also my post-life after wrestling. It’s a very difficult thing to do, commentary, but I feel like I’m somewhat finding a groove every time I do it. I have great people to work with alongside me. I really do enjoy it. It’s one of the things I never thought I wanted to do, but I like being challenged and put in situations and seeing if I can thrive. So far, I think I’m keeping my head above water when it comes to doing commentary.”

Though Starks has enjoyed his time in the commentary booth, he wants to make it clear that he is still an active in-ring competitor and that is his main focus. 

“I think it’s very rare to see an active wrestler that is doing commentary. I do want to put it out there that I’m a wrestler who does commentary, I’m not just a commentator. There is a lot of confusion sometimes that irks me a little bit where people go, ‘Oh, I don’t see you wrestle anymore. Do you only do commentary? Is your career over?’ No, I can do both, but at the end of the day, first and foremost, I’m still a wrestler regardless of what anyone says or what is put out there. I do like doing both,” he said.

Starks is the reigning FTW Champion and he’ll step back in the ring on Friday’s AEW Rampage when he defends the title against Jay Lethal. 

Fightful will have live coverage of the show beginning at 10 p.m. ET on Friday. 

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