CM Punk Put Ricky Starks & Big Bill Together As An AEW Tag Team

CM Punk's influence over All Elite Wrestling extended beyond his departure from the company, with Big Bill revealing that it was Punk's idea to put him and Ricky Starks together in a tag team.

Addressing how his pairing with Starks came together on Talk is Jericho, Big Bill stated:

"That was Punk. I was teaming with Brian Cage. We had some really cool matches and we were coming up with ideas for entrances and team names. I even went to Tony with a bunch of team names. In my mind, I thought this is where we were going forward and I was all in. Punk pulled me aside and said, ‘I have this idea for you and Ricky.’ I was like, ‘I’ve always liked Ricky.’ In NXT, I bailed him outside of the ring and he took a bump on the ramp. I thought I killed him. I didn't think he was going to do it. He did it. I’ve always liked Ricky, ever since then.

"Me and him trained with The Undertaker to get him ready for WrestleMania in New Orleans. He’s charismatic. I’m charismatic. This could work. You hear things, you don’t know. It’s either me and Brian or me and Ricky. Either is awesome. Then they put me with Ricky and I was all in."

Ricky Starks and Big Bill began teaming together on the September 16, 2023 episode of AEW Collision and they won the AEW World Tag Team Titles in only their second match together a couple of weeks later.

Bill and Starks dropped the belts to Sting and Darby Allin after 123 days. They continued teaming together but Starks sustained an injury during a March 2024 match against Top Flight and hasn't been back on TV since. Bill has since joined the Learning Tree with Chris Jericho and Bryan Keith.

Starks quickly recovered from the injury and he simply hasn't been booked on AEW programming. Why Starks is off TV has not been confirmed but reportedly the belief within AEW is Starks wants to go to WWE and the company are interested in signing him. Starks' deal with AEW is not up anytime soon, though.

H/T Fightful

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