Ricky Starks appeared to have legitimately gotten hurt on AEW Collision and it led to a change in the outcome of the AEW Tag Team Title tournament match.

According to Fightful Select, Ricky Starks and Big Bill were the planned team to advance in the tournament as they faced Top Flight in the opening round. 

Towards the end of the match, Starks was supposed to kick out of a pinfall attempt but he missed. The referee stopped the count despite Starks’ shoulder being on the mat which led to booing from the crowd. 

Ricky Starks then got up and took a DDT from Darius Martin before finally being pinned. Trainers were seen checking on the AEW star after the bell rang.

Even on the television broadcast, one could tell that Tony Schiavone was preparing to call for a kickout by Starks but sadly that didn’t happen. Big Bill and Starks were penciled in to face FTR in the next round of the tournament, but now it is Top Flight advancing. 

Starks and Big Bill had a credible run as AEW World Tag Team Champions before they dropped the titles to Sting and Darby Allin not long before Sting retired at AEW Revolution. 

So far the teams who have advanced in the tournament apart from Top Flight are The Young Bucks who defeated Private Party, The Best Friends who beat Undisputed Kingdom, and FTR who defeated The Infantry earlier in the evening.

Ricky Starks has since provided an update on his status and noted that he is doing fine. It’s possible that he may be kept away from ring for a while just to be sure. 

The show also featured a surprise appearance from a former IC Champion who answered Adam Copeland’s open challenge. You can check out full details of the segment here. 

Darius Martin, one-half of the tag team Top Flight, is injured and is sidelined from in-ring action.

He previously missed a year of action when he tore his ACL. Darius returned on AEW Dynamite as part of the AEW World Tag Team Title Number One Contendership Casino Tag Team Royale. The Young Bucks won the match to head into AEW Revolution as Martin was eliminated last.

Martin performed short of a dozen matches since his return, only to suffer another injury. There were reports of him suffering from a leg injury and missing significant ring time. Martin cleared up the air and said that his injury has nothing to do with wrestling by writing on Twitter, “What I’m currently dealing with had NOTHING to do with wrestling but I’m glad everyone else out there seems to know more about my health than I do.”

There was still no other information available about his injury until Malakai Black finally gave us an update about him.

Appearing on The Universal Wrestling Podcast, Black said (as transcribed by SEScoops): “I’ve wrestled Dante Martin, but his brother, unfortunately–I wish him a speedy recovery–he had a really nasty car accident. He’s out for another, like, six to nine months.”

Malakai Black was speaking about working with young talent and when speaking of working with Dante Martin, he gave an update on Darius’ health.

Darius Martin of Top Flight has reacted to the Fightful report that he recently suffered a leg injury and will miss significant ring time.

On Friday, he posted a tweet and gave a different perspective:

The 22-year-old from Minneapolis, Minnesota just got back to AEW after over a year on the sidelines due to an ACL tear. He returned on March 2nd. Top Flight is 6-1 since then. The team wrestled in the main event of the latest episode of AEW Dark. They teamed with The Hardys in an 8-man tag match against Private Party, The Blade & Angelico.

Kenny Omega Injury Update

Kenny Omega continues to rehabilitate his various injuries, but he probably won’t be back in time for AEW’s next pay-per-view event.

The former AEW World Heavyweight Champion has been out of action since late 2021. Last month, it’s believed that Omega had arthroscopic knee surgery and also went under the knife to correct a sports hernia. Both procedures have a recovery time of approximately 8-10 weeks.

In the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer said he doesn’t expect Omega to be healthy in time for AEW Double or Nothing in late May.

“I don’t know where Omega is as far as recovery on everything. But I don’t think he’s gonna make the May PPV. I don’t know that, the last I heard, it didn’t sound promising for May.”

– Dave Meltzer on Kenny Omega’s stauts

Kenny Omega is not your average athlete, but he should not rush his return. At this stage of his career, staying healthy is a top priority.

The June 23rd AEWxNJPW: Forbidden Door pay-per-view would be incomplete without Kenny Omega, so it’s probably best that he plays it safe and gives himself that extra month of recovery time.

• Kenny Omega On Life after Wrestling: “I’m Always Thinking About It”

Darius Martin has spent the majority of this year on the shelf recovering from an injury, but he is grateful to get the best support he can from AEW. The AEW star recently had an interview with Jon Alba on One-On-One. During the talk he provided an update on his recovery, claiming that he is feeling pretty good:

“I’m feeling pretty good, just moving around, taking it day by day, trying to get the clearance again, working my way up and building the strength again, you never want injuries, but I’m thankful it came at a time where I am fortunate enough to have this deal with AEW.”

• Get To Know Top Flight: AEW’s Newest Tag Team

Darius Martin On How AEW Has Helped Him

Martin continued by saying that AEW has been great to him during his recovery. Darius said that he really feels the love and support from the company. He then praised Tony Khan as a boss who values his employees:

“I’m still on the road, they’ve still been paying me. I’m still lucky enough to have that job and financial security because of AEW. It’s a great place and Tony Khan is an amazing boss who really values his employees and treats us like human beings. Tony is the best.”

Darius Martin last wrestled on AEW TV during a Dark episode back in February 18. He underwent ACL surgery on April 22. In his absence, his brother and Top Flight partner Dante Martin has made a name for himself in the singles division. He wrestled MJF for the Dynamite Diamond Ring during the Winter is Coming special.

H/t to Fightful for the transcribed quotes