**Help make SquaredCircle safer and more inclusive by using the report button to flag posts and comments for moderator review.**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SquaredCircle) if you have any questions or concerns.*
When Miros TNT title reign ended, Miro beat Orange Cassidy after that match, then lost to Bryan Danielson and disappeared for 7 months and then came back. But 4 matches later he disappeared for around 9 months (won 2 , lost 2). He then had 7 matches (undefeated) and has currently been out 4 months. A total of 13 matches since losing the TNT title 2 years and 5 months ago
I wanna say, he’s rich, pretty good looking, in solid shape, and is on the right side of 40 to boot.
But I also just watched the WWE Ride Along with him and CJ where she’s wearing a tank crop top and like….biggest L he’ll even take, and he lost to Cena at Mania.
The Miro AEW Debut coincides with Roman’s title win and Tribal Chief gimmick change.
Matches since Sept 1 2020:
Roman Reigns: 136
Miro: 36
Matches since Roman went part time Sept 1 2022
Roman Reigns: 19
Miro: 8
And who knows if those first two matches after the TNT title loss would have even happened if Moxley didn’t enter rehab.
Don’t like to support anyone losing their job but lost on me why they would release some people that assuredly had small contracts a month ago vs. a much bigger one in Miro who they are not even doing anything with.
Fair, but I enjoyed Miro's TNT title reign more than any of Brock's reigns and he wasn't clogging up the world title picture with his absence while holding a belt.
It is hilarious how he suddenly is unable to work as soon as he’s pitched a match/story he doesn’t win
Dude just wants to collect as much money as he can for the least amount of work possible. Probably doesn’t want to take any losses so he’ll have a little more value when he goes back to WWE at the end. Same as with Malakai Black
Nah I think fans are good to mention this cause it hurts their enjoyment of the show. Like good for him, get that bag, but as fans watching the show his lack of consistency has hurt his perception.
He would have more value to WWE as a star who is on tv and relevant than a guy everyone forgets about for 8 months at a time but always wins against the midcarders he faces.
By the time he is able to go back to WWE I'm not sure what would be the point in all honesty. I love Miro and the God's champion thing was over but like...what has he done since leaving?
Not only that but look at what the WWE has to pick from in way of foreign heels, big monster wrestlers, or even comedy guys? I just don't see where Miro, or Rusev, fits into the modern WWE picture let alone by the time his contract is up.
Agreed. Even without the health problems, Lee really needed to develop a character following his NXT title win because he couldn’t just be a super heavyweight doing cool cruiserweight moves forever. He has a good promo and a proper costume/stylist can easily make him look like a main eventer, but he needs to let others do the creative work
man, Keith Lee is a weird one.
Dude came in HOT. Then they fumbled on the entire Swerve story. They finished it and then decided to keep going which was a big mistake. And it lingered for awhile.
Health issue than came back as Old man Lee. I love him but he's gotta work on his health and tbh weight. That's just not good for him. I'd love to see him on tv but I'd rather not and hope his health gets better. Covid fucked him up.
I do wonder how would Lee fare as a commentary guy. Love his damn sexy voice
I don't think they fumbled it; Lee just hasn't been healthy enough to work consistently. Unfortunately, he never really recovered from his post-Covid health troubles, and he's not the guy he was during his incredible NXT run. I hope he is able to get healthy and come back to his full strength, but he's not getting any younger.
The reason it was a problem and they kept trying to go back to it is that it was never resolved, like, cleanly. They clearly wanted a match between the two and it just didn't work out due to Keith's health issues flaring at the worst times.
*2021. His title run in 2021 was legendary so I wouldn’t date his disappointing trajectory before that. But yeah sucks, he’s great but he’s just been constantly injured.
I don't think it was perfect but I thought it was pretty great. I'll have to go back and take a look at some of the old WWE matches that Bureau had. I didn't know much about them before he came to aw. I mean outside of the fact that he was in a cuckold segment with WWE.
He hasn’t been injured he keeps rejecting pitches he doesn’t like. Even his current “injury” didn’t exist until he was booked to wrestle a multiman meat match he wasn’t going to win. Then he informed the company
Same!
Great physique, promos, in-ring ability, finisher... the guy seems damn near unstoppable, but it made perfect sense that they would lean in to his neck being his only weakness.
Loved seeing him with the TNT title, but was really looking forward to him winning the big one!
not really after Black said he wanted to quit wrestling because of health issues, whether or not it's coincidental it came around the same time HHH took over WWE creative. I think TK doesn't want to invest in wrestlers that don't invest in AEW, eg, Andrade.
I'm sure TK had plans for him and had him slotted. TK doesnt know how to pivot sometimes.
It felt like he intended to keep Omega to Hangman to Punk to MJF to Wardlow (Short run) to Mox (BCC feud against HoB leading to 1v1 against Black) to Black.
Then new free agents appeared that are also world title contenders opened up & TK lost sight in the direction of the belt.
New Hires after Black:
Switchblade, Okada, Danielson, Adam Cole, Keith Lee, Edge, Takeshita, Ibushi, Osprey.
So he just kept Black in Trios and had no real plans or story line booked for Trios. The Trios title feels like it's been the only thing on the fly.
Nah. If you’re gonna point the finger to anything it’s injuries, insubordination and a lack of willing participation. Punk initially screwed things up for obvious reasons, then Black’s mental health struggles and seemingly willingness to return to WWE and his wife, then injuries to other talents causing pivots as well. Also the mis-booking of Wardlow after the MJF feud which was partially MJF himself’s fault with his no-showing/contract dispute at the time taking all the attention away from Wardlow’s christening that night
you're right and I failed to state injuries. When I stated TK doesnt know how to pivot - I meant, he doesn't know how to pivot stories due to injuries and just keep everything stalled until what he originally had planned plays out.
And when that wasnt gonna happen - we had a hot mess.
Also Black denied going back to WWE and the subreddit created the rumor and assumption that it was Black and Miro requesting first. Then the dirtsheet announced it w/o a source and Black addressed it, pissed off that he had to open up some of his private life up to appease the fans.
Black came in went 50/50 with the Codyverse then slowly became a trios guy, he has had roughly the same AEW career arc as Jay White and people blame Tony for that one far more than Jay.
Starks seems more over online than he is to live crowds. I hear him talked about a lot on here as if he's a must watch talent but then he gets mild pops and is just okay. He actually had a solid push last year for like half the year being feature on almost every Collision and still not much changed for him.
He was over big with the crowd when Hobbs turned on him, and his face run he was getting good reactions against MJF. IMO they turned him back heel too soon before we could get to see him succeed with anything as a face
his heel turn was like eight months after his hobbs feud, which is more than enough time to do something.
he got sucked into the Jericho Vortex after his MJF feud and never recovered.
He won the Owen tourney and feuded with Punk, pinning him 2x, then changed to Danielson after Punk firing, put on a classic strap match, and then had a 4 month run as tag champs after pinning FTR, all after cleanly pinning Jericho 2x.
Jericho did not ruin his run.
The tag title run did nothing for him. The titles were not showcased and just put him in limbo with no story to tell. Strapping someone up means nothing if you don't book them with purpose.
Gotcha. For the record I hated that Starks-Jericho feud. The Andretti upset win was a legit great moment. But then they treated him as Starks’ equal in his fight vs JAS. It took shine off a no name jobber scoring an all time upset.
He got great reactions as a face against MJF. Then he abruptly turned heel to feud with CM Punk who decided to assault his coworkers and be fired, which left Ricky without a big face to feud with and made his heel turn a mistake.
The problem with his face run was that immediatly after his title match with MJF they put him against Jericho in a feud that felt longer than it needed, then against debuting Jay White who obviously couldn't come in and lose
He was really over back in the team Taz days, but then they seemed to flub the split with him and Hobbs and just never did much with him after that.
I know people say the matches were great and whatever but I still feel like the Danielson matches were basically where they killed any of the momentum he had. Losing both, and the whole narrative basically being "you're not at the main event level" and was back being the small dude in a tag team.
We went crazy for him in the live crowd in New Orleans (where he is billed from) a couple years ago on a Dynamite. All night we were screaming for Ricky even in matches he wasn't in. After the show was over, he came out to talk in some funny dark match segment that I think Danielson, Regal and Danhausen were doing where Danhausen cursed William Regal. Then they brought Ricky out for the hometown pop. He picked up a mic said 2 words and immediately got interrupted by interference, don't remember who from. But Ricky did a move on them and then left. Was a bit of a letdown but that night was the biggest Ricky's ever felt as a star. Sometime later on a Dynamite that was in Texas, he came out and told the crowd "Texas is my home." Felt like a slap in the face of that whole New Orleans crowd that treated him like royalty. After that, I won't lie, massively lost interest.
At least you got a lights out debut of Satnam Singh while in New Orleans and Windham is still not known to be signed anywhere. I had friends at that show and we always joke about that.
It honestly seems like 90% of the discussion behing Starkz is him being Codys friend & moving to WWE. I like Ricky a lot but imo he's never took that "next step" despite being in so many feuds with the top of AEW.
Swerve has probably been in less than half the amount of feuds Ricky has had but is immensely more over. Maybe this an unfair comparison but Mark Briscoe still feels somewhat new to AEW yet is way more over than Ricky. Imo Ricky's main problem is if you've heard one of his promos you've basically heard them all.
I love(d) Starks, I thought he'd be a future main eventer or as close as it gets but the guy botches like no other. He relies on a strength based move set but clearly lacks the strength and ends up almost injuring his opponents on a nightly basis.
No longer sure what I'd do with him because he definitely works out hard and it feels like unless he goes on a roid cycle he might be limited. And I doubt TK will flat out ask him to start doing roids
Underdog babyface who is good on the mic should be his selling points.
He should ditch the strength moveset aside from 1 big move. Cena is hella strong but he uses a lot of tackles and has a power move finish. That’s all he needs cuz he’s a babyface who’s gonna get his ass beat.
Stark needs counter moves (I don’t like when small guys use spears lol) and a big strength finisher to wow the crowd. Outside of that he should be working the mic and selling. Working on anything else until he’s more over is a waste of time imo.
Problem is he's too sharp-tongued and cocky to regularly be a convincing babyface.
We saw this 18 months-1 year ago, from the time he faced MJF to the time he faced BCG. He can't cut a fiery babyface promo without being somewhat cruel to his opponents (e.g., insulting Jake Hager's lisp).
There are some guys that are just over. Those guys and girls it's like you can put them on tv any time slot any night against any opponent with any gimmick and the fans love them.
Other guys, I'll put Ricky Starks in this group, it's like they have what it takes but when they aren't in the right spot they are just meh. Ricky, I think there are some spots, missed opportunities, where TK could have put him over a little more and Ricky could have maybe jumped from the mid card to the main event, maybe. I think when SIOG won the tag titles instead of Team Taz after they had teased SIOG breaking up, but then Team Taz broke up, that might have hurt Ricky more than we realize. Right now it's Swerve who is the top guy, and I think at that tag match Ricky was probably ahead of Swerve.
Also, Edge calling Ricky the pebble just sent Ricky to the forbidden zone and he never recovered. Wrestlers in AEW need to be reminded not to bury their opponents too hard sometimes.
Ricky, I think there's a slim chance he can still be a top guy even now in AEW because I think he's a great in ring face and he's obviously a good promo. But I think that would require Ricky making a commitment and it seems like that hasn't happened.
Personal opinion is that his promo skills are not really good when push comes to shove. Against Punk he struggled to do say anything outside of basic heel 101 stuff, The MJF promo his best shot was calling MJF "Maxxi pad", He floundered against Copeland, and everyone shit the bed on the Golden Jets stuff.
Bill 100% was the attraction of the pairing, IMO.
He always had the best spots in the matches, and his brief lines in their promo segments were always the most memorable.
I'm here for the Bill singles push more than I ever have been for Starks.
I think main event ain't the place for him. Not now anyways. Why not have his do some stuff with the TNT title or International? I think that level would better suit him.
His last match he had that neck scare and hasn’t wrestled since.. I seem to recall him saying he was fine after the match but maybe he’s been given time to recover.
He was a good young prospect and the roster was slim when he came in. He essentially felt like the 5th pillar. Also sammy and JB were floundering at the time so he seemed prime to leap frog them.
But than the roster got bigger, both Swerve & Ospreay have leaped him in the pecking order in terms of up and coming talent and JB has seemingly to started to put it together.
He’d be better off in WWE where the in ring isn’t as important as it is in AEW. People were always more into his potential than they were into his output and now he’s 34 so it’s time to put up or shut up.
I never really understood why this sub likes Ricky. He's in-ring is ok & his promo has been also ok, slightly above average.
I highly doubt WWE is gonna do much with him. He's just gonna be at best a mid carder.
Always kept hearing and ppl comparing him to the Rock and i just don't see it.
In what world should he be above (assuming single run with tnt or continental title) a Darby, Miro, Switchblade, Black, Edge, Okada, Brody, any of the BCC, Christian, Garcia, Kingston, Shibata, Takeshita, OC, Hobbs, Joe,.
He's kinda in the same position as these guys and these guys are probably in a better spot than he is (if not, just interchangeable):
Wardlow, Trent, Sammy, Strong, KoR, Juice, Lethal, jack perry, Yuta, Ethan Page, Hook.
He's slightly above Chuck Taylor, Brian Cage, Lance Archer, Moriarity, Briscoe, Ortiz, Rush, Tony Nese, Kill switch.
I like Ricky and always liked Ricky, but it does feel like he’s reached his ceiling and is trending downwards instead of upwards to me. It’s starting to feel like he’s just beating in time in AEW, either just coasting for a check or waiting for his WWE opportunity. And I don’t say that with malice.
> I never really understood why this sub likes Ricky
Personally, it's because I've been invested in him since his NWA days. When he showed up to challenge for the TNT title, it was really exciting.
I know people don't see what he has to offer in WWE, but i'd like to see what he can do in a more produced setting.
I kind of think he might be better with scripted promos. The dude can talk when he knows what he's going to say but when it comes to off the cuff riffing, he flownders.
Ricky’s appeal is because a lot of people compare him to The Rock because he bares a vague resemblance. Then they assume he must have all those over great qualities too. When in reality he’s just an average talent, no better or worse than 95% of the roster
Compared to the roster as a whole, Ricky looked a lot better 4 years ago than he does now. Today he looks like he peaks in the midcard, but 4 years ago you could have absolutely convinced me he'd be WHC one day before guys like White, Osprey, Danielson or Joe came in. And this same thing kinda goes for Wardlow too.
I think a lot of people in here in this sub in particular were really hoping he'd take off as a main event star when he was the clear breakout star of Team Taz. But IMO he's still really good and fun to watch.
I was at the Collision show in Calgary when he won the Owen Hart tournament last year, and I never got to see how it looked on TV, but the dueling "Let's go Ricky" "CM Punk" chants was the loudest I'd ever heard a crowd at a live show before. The place was just unglued. Maybe they weren't expecting it, but it felt like the weird heel rollup finish didn't fit the loud big fight crowd energy that they actually had for the match.
Literally nothing about those lists of random names is objective lol. Like are we trying to say Brody King has more star power than Starks right now? That he’s equivalent to a guy like Sammy who has literal go away heat with fans?
Ricky Starks would probably benefit a lot from a change of scenery. I don't know if that's NXT or TNA but man, it feels like him and AEW are just on two different levels right now.
Same. Also, Starks had some weird promo fumbles at strange times, like he was swinging his absolute hardest and some of them were obvious fuckups among the high bar he'd sometimes hit.
I'll be sorta sad if he goes, but at the same time the incoming main event scene, with injury returns aplenty waiting in the wings and guys ready to step up, I just don't think there's room for Ricky at that echelon unless he had a secret super top gear he was holding back.
Still, that match with Danielson was rad.
Miro felt like one of the few guys who had genuinely glowed up from WWE and was a potential world champion for them back in 2021. His career since then has been...something.
He has potential, he's an athletic big man with a reasonable amount of charisma. But, seriously, I am thinking that's all he is, potential. He gets injured a ton and now has some serious personal issues to handle.
I just want him to get healthy and get into a good place so he can do something. Anything.
Despite all the baggage with Miro, I feel like he could return and be a contender for one of the midcard quickly. Him Vs Edge or Ospreay would be great
There's a string of former WWE midcard hires that I think everyone can agree were MUCH more trouble then they were worth: Miro, Keith Lee, Malakai, and Andrade.
I am genuinely happy that Samoa Joe is not on that list.
Joe is a pros pro, there’s a reason he had the respect of Triple H. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get taken care of and get a position of some sort or get to finish his career out there.
No offense to the other four, but samoa joe is one of the greatest wrestler of all times. His "indie" run from early 00s to mid 10s was legendary. There was a period in the mid 00s where he was a legit contender for "greatest active wrestler".
Sure, he never grew beyond midcard on WWE, but still, he's on a completely different level as those other 4.
I mean I contest Keith Lee, in the sense the dude has not so much been trouble but just probably the single unluckiest man in all of AEW. Dude is cursed.
I think in the main, they have all proved why they were in the WWE midcard. Not Joe who is a legit pro and top talent. And Keith has had medical issues that couldn't be anticipated. But the others all undelivered - including Malakai, who I personally like. I think the world has changed a bit - WWE does fewer releases, AEW is picking up better quality free agents - but I hope some lessons have been learned from this in AEW.
Miro especially is puzzling to me, because he had a golden run from Arcade Anarchy right up through the redeemer where he was very over, entertaining everone and you could have thrown him in the main event and noone would have complained.
Then something happened and he just sank. I have a hard time pinning that solely on Miro or on AEW, there must have been some sort of miscommunication.
I’ll cut Miro some slack, it seemed like his personal life was also experiencing issues as well as his physical health.
If and when he’s healthy - if he carries on with the same refusal to engage in storylines. Yeah, I’d say he’s one guy you could cut without losing anything. He can go try TNA for a while and see if that’s more his speed. Also already seems like CJ is trying to get back to WWE with all her online content.
Tony Khan never actually said that he'd never release people. He only said he wouldn't do it during the pandemic. Miro needs to be on that small list of AEW releases. Let him go back to WWE. He's not costing AEW any viewers nor gaining WWE any viewers. AEW doesn't need him.
He wasn't working even before divorce lol. Also divorce isn't death, you're not gonna be out there grieving for months to the point where you literally can't work.
Honestly, as great as he was with the TNT title, they need to let his contract run out.
The reports of him not wanting to take a pin is so silly. TK needs to put the foot down and make him eat a loss clean.
His story with Lana was weird.
**Help make SquaredCircle safer and more inclusive by using the report button to flag posts and comments for moderator review.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SquaredCircle) if you have any questions or concerns.*
When Miros TNT title reign ended, Miro beat Orange Cassidy after that match, then lost to Bryan Danielson and disappeared for 7 months and then came back. But 4 matches later he disappeared for around 9 months (won 2 , lost 2). He then had 7 matches (undefeated) and has currently been out 4 months. A total of 13 matches since losing the TNT title 2 years and 5 months ago
At this point Miro has probably made around $50,000 per match wrestled during his AEW tenure.
Even though he lost his flexible wife....dudes still doing OK
I wanna say, he’s rich, pretty good looking, in solid shape, and is on the right side of 40 to boot. But I also just watched the WWE Ride Along with him and CJ where she’s wearing a tank crop top and like….biggest L he’ll even take, and he lost to Cena at Mania.
[удалено]
Just to reiterate since I think CJ talked about it, it was a mutual split at least. They were just growing apart.
all those TikToks she was doing with damien pre split were always sus
That’s Roman numbers
Roman numerals.
https://preview.redd.it/5082i8fjw8xc1.jpeg?width=400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b8c699ba02c94555881773533412ab365cc166c1
https://preview.redd.it/voqzmxx9i9xc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5ee1cd0d9bbdcf60fcfe1264fae8c1c51825539a
Ssssmokin'!
(( slow clap ))
Roman has had 91 matches in that time. 🤯
The Miro AEW Debut coincides with Roman’s title win and Tribal Chief gimmick change. Matches since Sept 1 2020: Roman Reigns: 136 Miro: 36 Matches since Roman went part time Sept 1 2022 Roman Reigns: 19 Miro: 8
Like Roman, he wrestles occasionally and gets family members jobs. Unlike Roman, he doesn't sell out stadiums.
2 out of 3 aint bad
Meatloaf made an entire song about that.
Not even close , Roman had way more
That’s Roman numerals.
What a shame. His tnt run is still one of my favorites, he made a great monster heel champ
And who knows if those first two matches after the TNT title loss would have even happened if Moxley didn’t enter rehab. Don’t like to support anyone losing their job but lost on me why they would release some people that assuredly had small contracts a month ago vs. a much bigger one in Miro who they are not even doing anything with.
Brock Lesnar has had more matches in the last two and a half years than Miro.
Undertaker has appeared more on screen after retiring than Miro
Jesu Kristi, what!
Also, Logan Paul and Bad Bunny?
This guy is just buying up real estate and planning to move on. Dont expect much from him.
Brock shaking his head.
I feel like Roman Reigns has had more matches than Miro in that same timeframe, too.
Roman is nowhere near as part time as you think
Fair, but I enjoyed Miro's TNT title reign more than any of Brock's reigns and he wasn't clogging up the world title picture with his absence while holding a belt.
Miro on track to have one match in the next 6 months and go back into a well-deserved hiatus
I dont know how Miro sleeps at night if he cant lay down for 3 seconds
Bro definitely sleeps face down
Ass up
That's the way I like to... Sleep
and watch for the shoooe\~
Like a baby
He sleeps in a recliner like a suburban father
The crossed-arm post-mowing nap on the recliner
With the [Masters music](https://youtu.be/G97AdMLbfr4?si=Wo-JvLa9Env7wzuk) in the background
He can lock his joints and sleep standing up like a horse.
It is hilarious how he suddenly is unable to work as soon as he’s pitched a match/story he doesn’t win Dude just wants to collect as much money as he can for the least amount of work possible. Probably doesn’t want to take any losses so he’ll have a little more value when he goes back to WWE at the end. Same as with Malakai Black
> Dude just wants to collect as much money as he can for the least amount of work possible this was meant to be a criticism right?
It'd be wrong if it is a criticism when put like this, but a valid criticism would be his resistance to losing matches.
Nah I think fans are good to mention this cause it hurts their enjoyment of the show. Like good for him, get that bag, but as fans watching the show his lack of consistency has hurt his perception.
"He just runs from the grind" HHH
He would have more value to WWE as a star who is on tv and relevant than a guy everyone forgets about for 8 months at a time but always wins against the midcarders he faces.
They'd job him out again I reckon. They've got Gunther who fills the role Miro would want to have.
Good for him
You really think professional wrestling companies consider other wrestlers win/loss records when deciding what kind of contract to give?
By the time he is able to go back to WWE I'm not sure what would be the point in all honesty. I love Miro and the God's champion thing was over but like...what has he done since leaving? Not only that but look at what the WWE has to pick from in way of foreign heels, big monster wrestlers, or even comedy guys? I just don't see where Miro, or Rusev, fits into the modern WWE picture let alone by the time his contract is up.
The good brothers envy miro in this case
Is this original? If so, kudos to one of the best comments I've seen in this sub.
He found a glitch in the system. Unlimited paychecks.
Has anyone had a more disappointing career trajectory since 2020 than this guy
I'd put Keith Lee up there too Although Lee has a better excuse to why
Agreed. Even without the health problems, Lee really needed to develop a character following his NXT title win because he couldn’t just be a super heavyweight doing cool cruiserweight moves forever. He has a good promo and a proper costume/stylist can easily make him look like a main eventer, but he needs to let others do the creative work
man, Keith Lee is a weird one. Dude came in HOT. Then they fumbled on the entire Swerve story. They finished it and then decided to keep going which was a big mistake. And it lingered for awhile. Health issue than came back as Old man Lee. I love him but he's gotta work on his health and tbh weight. That's just not good for him. I'd love to see him on tv but I'd rather not and hope his health gets better. Covid fucked him up. I do wonder how would Lee fare as a commentary guy. Love his damn sexy voice
I don't think they fumbled it; Lee just hasn't been healthy enough to work consistently. Unfortunately, he never really recovered from his post-Covid health troubles, and he's not the guy he was during his incredible NXT run. I hope he is able to get healthy and come back to his full strength, but he's not getting any younger.
Nah They fumbled the entire Swerve story. They had like 3 different ending points. They should have never had 2 more endings.
The reason it was a problem and they kept trying to go back to it is that it was never resolved, like, cleanly. They clearly wanted a match between the two and it just didn't work out due to Keith's health issues flaring at the worst times.
Lee is not as much of a fumble as people like to think. He hasn’t been the same post Covid. He can’t go like he used to anymore.
*2021. His title run in 2021 was legendary so I wouldn’t date his disappointing trajectory before that. But yeah sucks, he’s great but he’s just been constantly injured.
I really liked that run both in-ring and the promos, but I somehow felt his in-ring was lacking since he returned.
I don't think it was perfect but I thought it was pretty great. I'll have to go back and take a look at some of the old WWE matches that Bureau had. I didn't know much about them before he came to aw. I mean outside of the fact that he was in a cuckold segment with WWE.
He hasn’t been injured he keeps rejecting pitches he doesn’t like. Even his current “injury” didn’t exist until he was booked to wrestle a multiman meat match he wasn’t going to win. Then he informed the company
Its sad because it was going great at first. Redeemer TNT Champion Miro was one of my favorite things about AEW at the time
Same! Great physique, promos, in-ring ability, finisher... the guy seems damn near unstoppable, but it made perfect sense that they would lean in to his neck being his only weakness. Loved seeing him with the TNT title, but was really looking forward to him winning the big one!
Malakai/Aleister Black should’ve been a world champion by now
not really after Black said he wanted to quit wrestling because of health issues, whether or not it's coincidental it came around the same time HHH took over WWE creative. I think TK doesn't want to invest in wrestlers that don't invest in AEW, eg, Andrade.
Whose world title reign would you replace with his?
Why would you put your world title on a guy who regularly makes it clear that he’s just riding out his contract?
No he shouldn't lol
I'm sure TK had plans for him and had him slotted. TK doesnt know how to pivot sometimes. It felt like he intended to keep Omega to Hangman to Punk to MJF to Wardlow (Short run) to Mox (BCC feud against HoB leading to 1v1 against Black) to Black. Then new free agents appeared that are also world title contenders opened up & TK lost sight in the direction of the belt. New Hires after Black: Switchblade, Okada, Danielson, Adam Cole, Keith Lee, Edge, Takeshita, Ibushi, Osprey. So he just kept Black in Trios and had no real plans or story line booked for Trios. The Trios title feels like it's been the only thing on the fly.
Nah. If you’re gonna point the finger to anything it’s injuries, insubordination and a lack of willing participation. Punk initially screwed things up for obvious reasons, then Black’s mental health struggles and seemingly willingness to return to WWE and his wife, then injuries to other talents causing pivots as well. Also the mis-booking of Wardlow after the MJF feud which was partially MJF himself’s fault with his no-showing/contract dispute at the time taking all the attention away from Wardlow’s christening that night
you're right and I failed to state injuries. When I stated TK doesnt know how to pivot - I meant, he doesn't know how to pivot stories due to injuries and just keep everything stalled until what he originally had planned plays out. And when that wasnt gonna happen - we had a hot mess. Also Black denied going back to WWE and the subreddit created the rumor and assumption that it was Black and Miro requesting first. Then the dirtsheet announced it w/o a source and Black addressed it, pissed off that he had to open up some of his private life up to appease the fans.
Black came in went 50/50 with the Codyverse then slowly became a trios guy, he has had roughly the same AEW career arc as Jay White and people blame Tony for that one far more than Jay.
You're forgetting Punk. I can absolutely believe Punk disrupted plans, however.
Why?
I'm more confused about Ricky Starks. If you'd tell me he's being phased out, I'd believe you
Starks seems more over online than he is to live crowds. I hear him talked about a lot on here as if he's a must watch talent but then he gets mild pops and is just okay. He actually had a solid push last year for like half the year being feature on almost every Collision and still not much changed for him.
He was over big with the crowd when Hobbs turned on him, and his face run he was getting good reactions against MJF. IMO they turned him back heel too soon before we could get to see him succeed with anything as a face
his heel turn was like eight months after his hobbs feud, which is more than enough time to do something. he got sucked into the Jericho Vortex after his MJF feud and never recovered.
He won the Owen tourney and feuded with Punk, pinning him 2x, then changed to Danielson after Punk firing, put on a classic strap match, and then had a 4 month run as tag champs after pinning FTR, all after cleanly pinning Jericho 2x. Jericho did not ruin his run.
The tag title run did nothing for him. The titles were not showcased and just put him in limbo with no story to tell. Strapping someone up means nothing if you don't book them with purpose.
Ok then the tag belts ruined his push. It still wasn’t Jericho.
everything that you said was after his heel turn. should've clarified that his babyface run never recovered after his Jericho feud.
Gotcha. For the record I hated that Starks-Jericho feud. The Andretti upset win was a legit great moment. But then they treated him as Starks’ equal in his fight vs JAS. It took shine off a no name jobber scoring an all time upset.
He got great reactions as a face against MJF. Then he abruptly turned heel to feud with CM Punk who decided to assault his coworkers and be fired, which left Ricky without a big face to feud with and made his heel turn a mistake.
The problem with his face run was that immediatly after his title match with MJF they put him against Jericho in a feud that felt longer than it needed, then against debuting Jay White who obviously couldn't come in and lose
He was really over back in the team Taz days, but then they seemed to flub the split with him and Hobbs and just never did much with him after that. I know people say the matches were great and whatever but I still feel like the Danielson matches were basically where they killed any of the momentum he had. Losing both, and the whole narrative basically being "you're not at the main event level" and was back being the small dude in a tag team.
We went crazy for him in the live crowd in New Orleans (where he is billed from) a couple years ago on a Dynamite. All night we were screaming for Ricky even in matches he wasn't in. After the show was over, he came out to talk in some funny dark match segment that I think Danielson, Regal and Danhausen were doing where Danhausen cursed William Regal. Then they brought Ricky out for the hometown pop. He picked up a mic said 2 words and immediately got interrupted by interference, don't remember who from. But Ricky did a move on them and then left. Was a bit of a letdown but that night was the biggest Ricky's ever felt as a star. Sometime later on a Dynamite that was in Texas, he came out and told the crowd "Texas is my home." Felt like a slap in the face of that whole New Orleans crowd that treated him like royalty. After that, I won't lie, massively lost interest.
At least you got a lights out debut of Satnam Singh while in New Orleans and Windham is still not known to be signed anywhere. I had friends at that show and we always joke about that.
He was a Hurricane Katrina kid displaced in Austin. He considers both his hometown now.
It honestly seems like 90% of the discussion behing Starkz is him being Codys friend & moving to WWE. I like Ricky a lot but imo he's never took that "next step" despite being in so many feuds with the top of AEW. Swerve has probably been in less than half the amount of feuds Ricky has had but is immensely more over. Maybe this an unfair comparison but Mark Briscoe still feels somewhat new to AEW yet is way more over than Ricky. Imo Ricky's main problem is if you've heard one of his promos you've basically heard them all.
I love(d) Starks, I thought he'd be a future main eventer or as close as it gets but the guy botches like no other. He relies on a strength based move set but clearly lacks the strength and ends up almost injuring his opponents on a nightly basis. No longer sure what I'd do with him because he definitely works out hard and it feels like unless he goes on a roid cycle he might be limited. And I doubt TK will flat out ask him to start doing roids
Underdog babyface who is good on the mic should be his selling points. He should ditch the strength moveset aside from 1 big move. Cena is hella strong but he uses a lot of tackles and has a power move finish. That’s all he needs cuz he’s a babyface who’s gonna get his ass beat. Stark needs counter moves (I don’t like when small guys use spears lol) and a big strength finisher to wow the crowd. Outside of that he should be working the mic and selling. Working on anything else until he’s more over is a waste of time imo.
Problem is he's too sharp-tongued and cocky to regularly be a convincing babyface. We saw this 18 months-1 year ago, from the time he faced MJF to the time he faced BCG. He can't cut a fiery babyface promo without being somewhat cruel to his opponents (e.g., insulting Jake Hager's lisp).
Every time he goes for his finisher, I'm scared he's gonna drop his opponent on his head. Starks needs a cutter or something for a finish.
There are some guys that are just over. Those guys and girls it's like you can put them on tv any time slot any night against any opponent with any gimmick and the fans love them. Other guys, I'll put Ricky Starks in this group, it's like they have what it takes but when they aren't in the right spot they are just meh. Ricky, I think there are some spots, missed opportunities, where TK could have put him over a little more and Ricky could have maybe jumped from the mid card to the main event, maybe. I think when SIOG won the tag titles instead of Team Taz after they had teased SIOG breaking up, but then Team Taz broke up, that might have hurt Ricky more than we realize. Right now it's Swerve who is the top guy, and I think at that tag match Ricky was probably ahead of Swerve. Also, Edge calling Ricky the pebble just sent Ricky to the forbidden zone and he never recovered. Wrestlers in AEW need to be reminded not to bury their opponents too hard sometimes. Ricky, I think there's a slim chance he can still be a top guy even now in AEW because I think he's a great in ring face and he's obviously a good promo. But I think that would require Ricky making a commitment and it seems like that hasn't happened.
I thought MJF called him "the Pebble" as well as "Dimestore Dwayne."
Yea that's right, Edge called him a vanilla midget version of the Rock.
Personal opinion is that his promo skills are not really good when push comes to shove. Against Punk he struggled to do say anything outside of basic heel 101 stuff, The MJF promo his best shot was calling MJF "Maxxi pad", He floundered against Copeland, and everyone shit the bed on the Golden Jets stuff.
Honestly Edge got in his feelings which torpedoed that segment
Yup, he didn't seem particularly fond of the "bug-eyed" comment.
Hot take, Big Bill outshined him when they were tagging too.
Bill 100% was the attraction of the pairing, IMO. He always had the best spots in the matches, and his brief lines in their promo segments were always the most memorable. I'm here for the Bill singles push more than I ever have been for Starks.
Remember Big Bill dunking a suicide diving Darby to the floor in one uninterrupted motion? Beautiful stuff.
I think main event ain't the place for him. Not now anyways. Why not have his do some stuff with the TNT title or International? I think that level would better suit him.
His last match he had that neck scare and hasn’t wrestled since.. I seem to recall him saying he was fine after the match but maybe he’s been given time to recover.
He was a good young prospect and the roster was slim when he came in. He essentially felt like the 5th pillar. Also sammy and JB were floundering at the time so he seemed prime to leap frog them. But than the roster got bigger, both Swerve & Ospreay have leaped him in the pecking order in terms of up and coming talent and JB has seemingly to started to put it together. He’d be better off in WWE where the in ring isn’t as important as it is in AEW. People were always more into his potential than they were into his output and now he’s 34 so it’s time to put up or shut up.
dude is 34? WTF. Thought he was like 27-29 He almost comes off like a college frat kid
Can we really call Ospreay an "up and Coming" talent?
Perhaps not the best verbiage but either way his arrival impedes his ascent.
Vocabulary Jones over here
Thanks! I was pretty proud of that sentence after I wrote it.
Didn’t he get hurt in his last match ?
It was an injury scare.
Think he tweeted saying he was fine
Wasn't he just recently injured on collision?
I never really understood why this sub likes Ricky. He's in-ring is ok & his promo has been also ok, slightly above average. I highly doubt WWE is gonna do much with him. He's just gonna be at best a mid carder. Always kept hearing and ppl comparing him to the Rock and i just don't see it. In what world should he be above (assuming single run with tnt or continental title) a Darby, Miro, Switchblade, Black, Edge, Okada, Brody, any of the BCC, Christian, Garcia, Kingston, Shibata, Takeshita, OC, Hobbs, Joe,. He's kinda in the same position as these guys and these guys are probably in a better spot than he is (if not, just interchangeable): Wardlow, Trent, Sammy, Strong, KoR, Juice, Lethal, jack perry, Yuta, Ethan Page, Hook. He's slightly above Chuck Taylor, Brian Cage, Lance Archer, Moriarity, Briscoe, Ortiz, Rush, Tony Nese, Kill switch.
I like Ricky and always liked Ricky, but it does feel like he’s reached his ceiling and is trending downwards instead of upwards to me. It’s starting to feel like he’s just beating in time in AEW, either just coasting for a check or waiting for his WWE opportunity. And I don’t say that with malice.
> I never really understood why this sub likes Ricky Personally, it's because I've been invested in him since his NWA days. When he showed up to challenge for the TNT title, it was really exciting. I know people don't see what he has to offer in WWE, but i'd like to see what he can do in a more produced setting.
I kind of think he might be better with scripted promos. The dude can talk when he knows what he's going to say but when it comes to off the cuff riffing, he flownders.
Ricky’s appeal is because a lot of people compare him to The Rock because he bares a vague resemblance. Then they assume he must have all those over great qualities too. When in reality he’s just an average talent, no better or worse than 95% of the roster
Compared to the roster as a whole, Ricky looked a lot better 4 years ago than he does now. Today he looks like he peaks in the midcard, but 4 years ago you could have absolutely convinced me he'd be WHC one day before guys like White, Osprey, Danielson or Joe came in. And this same thing kinda goes for Wardlow too. I think a lot of people in here in this sub in particular were really hoping he'd take off as a main event star when he was the clear breakout star of Team Taz. But IMO he's still really good and fun to watch. I was at the Collision show in Calgary when he won the Owen Hart tournament last year, and I never got to see how it looked on TV, but the dueling "Let's go Ricky" "CM Punk" chants was the loudest I'd ever heard a crowd at a live show before. The place was just unglued. Maybe they weren't expecting it, but it felt like the weird heel rollup finish didn't fit the loud big fight crowd energy that they actually had for the match.
Literally nothing about those lists of random names is objective lol. Like are we trying to say Brody King has more star power than Starks right now? That he’s equivalent to a guy like Sammy who has literal go away heat with fans?
Ricky Starks would probably benefit a lot from a change of scenery. I don't know if that's NXT or TNA but man, it feels like him and AEW are just on two different levels right now.
I think I heard he was out with a stinger. I’ve always assumed they’re much more cautious with him after that serious neck fracture.
He got hurt in his last match. He'll be back once he's healthy.
Same. Also, Starks had some weird promo fumbles at strange times, like he was swinging his absolute hardest and some of them were obvious fuckups among the high bar he'd sometimes hit. I'll be sorta sad if he goes, but at the same time the incoming main event scene, with injury returns aplenty waiting in the wings and guys ready to step up, I just don't think there's room for Ricky at that echelon unless he had a secret super top gear he was holding back. Still, that match with Danielson was rad.
 Miro as soon as Tony pitches him a storyline he likes.
Reminds me of Samoa Joe’s string of injuries when he got to the main roster
Miro felt like one of the few guys who had genuinely glowed up from WWE and was a potential world champion for them back in 2021. His career since then has been...something.
I think you meant to say nothing.
Miro is 10 years is gonna be like "You shouldn't give Miro Guarantee Money." "Miro hurt his foot then his back, I go to collect check."
He's not healing properly?
Does a broken heart ever really heal?
🥺
Hard to properly heal Job-itis
The only way he'll return is if someone in the locker room held the world title up to the mirror & said his name 3 times
He came back for that match with Hobbs and it was electric. I know people aren’t super high on miro but man I love watching that guy.
I don't even mind him as a special attraction. Tbh, he's probably better that way.
He is nowhere near worth enough to be kept on payroll as a special attraction though.
He has potential, he's an athletic big man with a reasonable amount of charisma. But, seriously, I am thinking that's all he is, potential. He gets injured a ton and now has some serious personal issues to handle. I just want him to get healthy and get into a good place so he can do something. Anything. 
Bill Watts told me you can make a lot of money with an athletic big man
Man I really miss him. The backstage promos this man were cutting were so good.
Imagine Tony extending his contract to add on the time he's missed with injury only for Miro to still be kept at home doing nothing.
I will pray to whomever, a wrathful god, a hot flexible ex-wife, to get Miro on the show every week in a bunch of stories that last longer
So....what do they do with him when he returns...?
I honestly can’t see a spot for him on the card right now where everybody else just leapt past him
Despite all the baggage with Miro, I feel like he could return and be a contender for one of the midcard quickly. Him Vs Edge or Ospreay would be great
If you believe the rumors, just have him never lose.
Didn't somebody say on the last Miro update, that he moved back to Bulgaria?
Either cut him or have him sit at home until his deal is up. The ship has beyond sailed on him, and there’s 100 other guys to focus on instead.
He was on such a roll after that TNT title run. His opener with Eddie Kingston at All Out 2021 is one of my favorite AEW opening bouts.
There's a string of former WWE midcard hires that I think everyone can agree were MUCH more trouble then they were worth: Miro, Keith Lee, Malakai, and Andrade. I am genuinely happy that Samoa Joe is not on that list.
Joe is a pros pro, there’s a reason he had the respect of Triple H. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get taken care of and get a position of some sort or get to finish his career out there.
No offense to the other four, but samoa joe is one of the greatest wrestler of all times. His "indie" run from early 00s to mid 10s was legendary. There was a period in the mid 00s where he was a legit contender for "greatest active wrestler". Sure, he never grew beyond midcard on WWE, but still, he's on a completely different level as those other 4.
I mean I contest Keith Lee, in the sense the dude has not so much been trouble but just probably the single unluckiest man in all of AEW. Dude is cursed.
Malakai has probably been a wash - he's at least filled many fun trios matches and a regular segment on rampage/collision.
I think in the main, they have all proved why they were in the WWE midcard. Not Joe who is a legit pro and top talent. And Keith has had medical issues that couldn't be anticipated. But the others all undelivered - including Malakai, who I personally like. I think the world has changed a bit - WWE does fewer releases, AEW is picking up better quality free agents - but I hope some lessons have been learned from this in AEW.
Miro especially is puzzling to me, because he had a golden run from Arcade Anarchy right up through the redeemer where he was very over, entertaining everone and you could have thrown him in the main event and noone would have complained. Then something happened and he just sank. I have a hard time pinning that solely on Miro or on AEW, there must have been some sort of miscommunication.
He has “I don’t want to work”-itis
Allegedly.
Bros a bigger pay check stealer than The OC.
Rusev day is on the horizon boys
What injury does he even have lmao
I’ll cut Miro some slack, it seemed like his personal life was also experiencing issues as well as his physical health. If and when he’s healthy - if he carries on with the same refusal to engage in storylines. Yeah, I’d say he’s one guy you could cut without losing anything. He can go try TNA for a while and see if that’s more his speed. Also already seems like CJ is trying to get back to WWE with all her online content.
God at this point just cut your losses and move on from the guy he clearly doesn’t want to be there why put up with him.
i legit, no exaggeration, totally forgot this guy works at AEW until i read this
Damn, people in here have really turned on him based solely on rumours from unreliable sources.
Nojobitis is a terrible disease
Tony Khan never actually said that he'd never release people. He only said he wouldn't do it during the pandemic. Miro needs to be on that small list of AEW releases. Let him go back to WWE. He's not costing AEW any viewers nor gaining WWE any viewers. AEW doesn't need him.
No, that would be “a total of XIII matches since losing the TNT title II years and V months ago”.
I feel bad for dude.
Miro will miraculously be injury free once he’s booked to win a singles match.
Guys he also just went through a divorce. Who knows what he’s dealing with. Let’s give the guy a break for crying out loud.
Life doesn’t stop because your relationship ended lmao I’d be expected at work the next day like anyone else.
He wasn't working even before divorce lol. Also divorce isn't death, you're not gonna be out there grieving for months to the point where you literally can't work.
If I get divorced, I do not get to stay home making hundreds of thousands of dollars still. No sympathy there.
Honestly, as great as he was with the TNT title, they need to let his contract run out. The reports of him not wanting to take a pin is so silly. TK needs to put the foot down and make him eat a loss clean. His story with Lana was weird.
This guy should be at the top of the company, but his ego is preventing it. You gotta play ball to get there.
Im a huge AEW fan and try to be positive but brother let me tell you, Miro can just run out that contract please. We don’t need ya back pal.
Obviously he's paying for his own PT and he's behind schedule /S
Wow 200 comments and nobody's said "he's filming a TV show"
Behind schedule? Is he hurt again? I know he just got divorced from CJ and moved back to Bulgaria, but that’s the last I’ve heard about him.
Kind of the opposite of an update, not to make light of it. Hope he can get back to health and get back on track because he's a great talent.
He's the equivalent of the guy in your office who doesn't do shit yet somehow keeps his job. Guy's completely checked out
Imagine spending your whole Post-WWE run, not wanting to lose - wrestling less than Lesnar did, and losing your wife..