The last few days have been full of surprises as it was reported earlier this week that Ricky Starks, Miro and Malakai Black had all parted ways with All Elite Wrestling.
Ricky Starks wasted little time making his next move as the former AEW World Tag Team Champion made his big WWE debut during this week’s episode of NXT.
CM Punk has an interesting history with Starks as they crossed paths in AEW. It appears that CM Punk is happy about Ricky joining WWE as he posted footage of the debut in an Instagram story along with a smiley face emoji. Punk also commented on the clip of Ricky’s debut when he posted the following comment:
“Absolute”
CM Punk’s reaction to Ricky Starks WWE debut tonight ❤️ pic.twitter.com/OJUQ3b95Mp
— Teffo (@Teffo_01) February 12, 2025
Ricky Starks has been complimentary of CM Punk in the past as he noted that he was able to talk with CM Punk a lot in AEW and get help with his promos. Starks picked up a big win over CM Punk in 2023 when he defeated CM Punk in the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament final. A few weeks later CM Punk defended the Real AEW World Championship against Starks and Punk managed to retain the title in what ended up being one of his last few matches with the company.