The following highlights were sent to us from the interview that Chris Van Vliet did with Ricky Starks on Insight With Chris Van Vliet:
On his AEW absence:
“March was my last match. I’ve been home, I’ve been healthy. Never was injured. I did have a stinger. I got a stinger in that match against Top Flight in March. I got immediately checked out and everything was fine, but I was just concerned at the time. So that happened and then I was just home. That’s kind of where it’s been at. I’ve just been home. It’s kind of a mindf*ck because I’m in my prime and it sucks when you’re on such a momentum, riding the wave, doing work and doing stuff, and then to just be at home for so long, you’re kind of like, whoa. It kind of throws it off. I am not meant to be at home. I’m not meant to be a homebody. In this current phase in my life I’m not meant to be just chilling at home and doing not the thing that I’ve been busting my ass to do for the past 13 years.”
On why he has been absent:
“Beats me. I could have 1,000 theories about what’s really going on. The fact of the matter is that if I don’t have a definitive answer, I can’t just make up an answer for people and just assume. Would I love to know the exact reason? For sure. Do I have speculations about why? Absolutely. But that does nothing to speak on things that I speculate, does nothing for the situation. So I think it’s just a matter of, it sucks, it’s been a very cold day here in Austin. It’s been a very cold day. May have been cold for the past nine months, not sure. But thankfully, I have a sweater, and I’m always ready to keep the warmth going.”
On his promo with MJF:
“There’s several instances where I think I’ve proven everybody that I’m actually more of a troll than Max is, and I’ve had it happen on live TV. But in that moment, that was in Austin, and I just had a match. So the promo that I went off on him with was so good because yeah I stumbled, and I said I’m gonna stomp an ass in your something. I like stumbling through a promo. I don’t care if it’s clean. You hear somebody freestyling on a rap beat and it’s just like well they kind of stumble, but they just keep it moving. I like when that happens. That right there was my moment in my head of just kill me with what you got. You give me an inch, I make sure that you get every juice out of that squeeze. And so obviously the chemistry with me and Max was palpable in that moment because you could feel it and you could see two people somewhat similar, but total opposites.”
On being compared to The Rock:
“I don’t think I ever really gave it much thought. I think it’s pretty well-known who my favorite wrestler was. The Rock was cool. I liked The Rock. He was cool. But this is how I do it. I can’t help the way that I look. I’m a handsome motherf*cker. That’s just how it is, and that’s a respectable thing. My style, as you know, even before we started filming is I had a Garth Brooks shirt on. I like what I like, and I wear what I like. It’s nothing to do with ripping somebody off and I would be honest if I was doing that. I am an improvement on a design straight from the city of New Orleans. If you had to say that I copy anyone, I’m copying the people of New Orleans, absolutely, that’s who I am.”
