Ricky Starks Opens Up About Being 'The Oddball' In Team Taz

Ricky Starks became a part of All Elite Wrestling relatively early in the company's history, accepting one of Cody Rhodes' open challenges for the TNT Championship on the June 17, 2020 edition of "Dynamite." Since then, he has spent most of his run as part of the Team Taz stable, but the recent disintegration of his relationship with Powerhouse Hobbs has set him on a new path as a singles star. In a new interview with The Ringer, Starks looked back on the original Team Taz that saw Brian Cage teaming with Hobbs and Starks.

"Obviously, Cage had some TV experience with Lucha Underground and Impact, and at the time, he was the more experienced one between me and him," Starks explained. "With the addition of Hobbs, I think that was just a case of Hobbs's attitude fit with the group," he says. "The only person that really was the oddball in that whole thing was me, and I think a lot of people from day one really didn't see how I could mesh within that group, just based on who we had in there. So, in my opinion, I think with the different types of personalities we had, it still worked out. And it was going to work out either way because I was adamant about it working out."

Starks is the longest-reigning FTW Champion at 378 days, just barely beating out Brian Cage's reign at 377 days. Still, he admitted that carrying the belt and trying to elevate it on television came with its own "frustrations." "I held the title, and it was something, and it is something." 

The "Absolute" AEW star is scheduled to go one-on-one against his friend-turned-foe, Powerhouse Hobbs, at this weekend's All Out pay-per-view.