During the February 11, edition of WWE NXT, Ricky Starks stunned the wrestling world by debuting for the silver brand. Starks’ arrival came shortly after it was reported that he’d been released from AEW. On X, Starks had just four words in response to his stunning WWE NXT debut.
Starks isn’t the only name in wrestling to react to his WWE NXT debut this week. On Instagram, CM Punk, who like Starks has his own issues with AEW, was pleased to see his former colleague make the jump to the silver brand.
Starks hadn’t been used in AEW since March 2024 after he and Big Bill lost the AEW World Tag Team Championships to Darby Allin and Sting. Though Starks was dealing with an injury for a time, he was fully cleared to compete for much of his absence. In November 2024, Starks shared that he’d not been given a reason for why he wasn’t being used, but had theories as to why this was the case.
Now in WWE, Starks will hope to follow other AEW-to-WWE success stories including Cody Rhodes, Jade Cargill, Lexis King, and Ethan Page. At the very least, Starks can expect to be seen on TV and be allowed to wrestle, far more than he was receiving during his final year as part of AEW.