Ricky Starks has been killing it with the Absolute gimmick in AEW. Starks has got great mic skills and he sure can walk the talk. The FTW champion has been compared to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in terms of how he carries himself.

Starks has no problem with the comparisons but is irked by comments discrediting him for the mannerism and originality he brings to the table. Here’s what Starks said about The Rock comparisons during a recent chat on PWI podcast.

“Well, the only thing that bothers me is when people try to say that I’m actually actively copying The Rock with the way I dress and all this other dumb sh*t. It does piss me off because I’ve never gone into wrestling trying to copy The Rock.

“I’ve never studied The Rock’s promos to do exactly how he does. Everything I do, it comes from my head. It comes from how I feel and how I want to look. So when I hear people say that and discredit my originality, it does bother me a bit.

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“I think the issue is that some people, even outside of wrestling fans, they’re so closed minded that they can’t understand there’s individuality in certain people, and because of the way that I dress, they compare it to how The Rock used to dress.

“The Rock isn’t the only guy that knows how to dress. You all are just so used to people in basketball shorts and their own merchandise shirts, that you can’t fathom somebody coming on screen and dressing in a turtleneck and nice slacks. It’s the most bizarre thing.

“I don’t mind the comparison. It’s just when people say verbatim ‘Yeah, he’s just stealing The Rock.’ If you want to see who is stealing The Rock, maybe we should look at some other promotions and go from there. Because I have never sat up here and tried to basically bite off The Rock’s style of anything. I am who I am.

“So that’s the only thing I really get irked about is when people try to discredit me in my own way, but in terms of comparisons looks wise, I actually don’t mind. Me and The Rock are both handsome individuals, and you can’t say that a lot for some of the fans that try to talk trash about us.”

On AEW TV, Starks is paired with Powerhouse Hobbs as part of Team Taz. Starks will put his FTW title on the line against Jungle Boy next week on Dynamite. You can reach the show’s lineup right here.

h/t Wrestling News

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Tags: The Rock
Manik Aftab

Manik Aftab serves as a news writer at Ringside News. He has covered pro wrestling and sports entertainment for a variety of publications, including Sportskeeda Wrestling, The Sportster, and WrestleZone. Outside of his professional duties, Manik likes to indulge in fiction, thrillers, comics, manga, and anime.

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