AEW superstar Ricky Starks joined Comicbook.com to hype up this evening’s Winter Is Coming television special, where the Absolute One will be challenging MJF for the AEW world championship, a match that he earned after winning the World Title Eliminator tournament.
During the interview, Starks once again addressed the comparisons he gets to The Rock, and how much he loves the Great One but doesn’t wish to be discredited for his originality. Highlights are below.
Says he loved The Rock but he wasn’t his favorite wrestler:
I tell this all the time, The Rock wasn’t my favorite wrestler. He was like my number three favorite wrestler. That’s not to discredit The Rock from any type of talent he has, but I say that to say he wasn’t a big inspiration.
Loves being compared to The Rock but hates when people discredit his originality:
I always tell this: I don’t hate the comparisons. What I do hate though, is being discredited for my natural creativity in lieu of someone saying, ‘Well, you’re just literally copying The Rock,’ which isn’t true at all.
How his swagger comes from growing up in New Orleans:
My inspiration and who I am and how I talk and all that, cadence wise, comes from people in New Orleans. I can see how there’s a similarity there, but I’m being 100 percent forthcoming and honest when I say I don’t really look to The Rock for my inspiration. I do look to The Rock in terms of what a businessman he is and what he’s contributed and how he holds himself. If some by chance, somebody thinks that I’m Rock-lite, then that’s cool.