Ricky Starks Defends CM Punk, Says Punk Was 'Closest To Understanding' Him In AEW

CM Punk's tenure in AEW may have left him with more enemies than friends when he eventually left the company, but a few still in AEW credit him, including Ricky Starks.

Starks, during his recent appearance on "WhatCulture Wrestling," explained how Punk helped him during his time in AEW.

"Punk was very instrumental in my presentation on 'Collision,'" declared Starks. "There's a video clip that constantly gets reshared where the pyro is going off and exploding and blah, blah, blah — that was all Punk's idea. Punk had a vision for trying to help out certain people and getting along. I do remember a conversation with him where he was like, 'You know, it's really up to you to swim ... sink or swim.' I felt like I put a lot of stress on myself and pressure on myself to constantly outperform my last match, that I had just to prove that if he was going to, you know, put his name on me, so to speak, or be the one to push for me, that I needed to do my part and make sure I never let that down."

He added that he didn't want to let the Young Bucks or Sting down, similar to his feeling when he faced Punk. Starks praised The Young Bucks too, claiming that they have been helpful and are knowledgeable. Punk and Starks had a feud in AEW, resulting in two matches between them, which the AEW star discussed as well.

Ricky Starks believes that CM Punk is one of the few people who understood what he was going for with his character.

"Punk was very instrumental in making sure, like, 'Hey, we should try to do something different with this dude.' And I think Punk is the only one that was closest to really understanding me in that regard," said Starks. "If you remember how I pulled up in the car, I had that. Then I was the one that came out with the Louis [Vuitton] bag and I dressed ... every time he would see my outfit, he would laugh and be like, 'This is perfect.'"

Starks added that he got along well with Punk, and doesn't want others to tell him to disparage Punk just because they don't like him.

"So there was a great collaboration going on in that regard so that's why I have no issues with Punk. I don't give a f**k what anybody tries to tell me, I don't care. He has never done me wrong and you can have your opinions on him and all that, but don't ... you shouldn't vilify someone for thinking differently than you," stated the AEW star.

He added that Punk helped him immensely on "AEW Collision," and argued that his character was working well thanks to Punk's feedback and inputs. Starks has featured sparingly in the last few months and admitted he has no idea when he'll be back on AEW television.