Ricky Starks accompanied Cody Rhodes to the WWE Royal Rumble 2023 pay-per-view event on January 28th. The Absolute was present backstage at the Alamodome as The American Nightmare won the 30-Man annual over-the-top-rope-extravaganza to punch his ticket to the main event of WrestleMania 39.
Speaking to Stephanie Chase, Starks discussed his presence backstage at the Royal Rumble, noting that he felt it was more important to support his friend Cody Rhodes than worry about what others would think about his attendance.
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On being at the Royal Rumble: “It was important to me because that’s my friend. That’s a guy who has helped me out through a neck injury. That’s a guy who had helped me out through my career, even before AEW, when I was an extra at SmackDown. This guy talked to me and gave me advice when he didn’t have to. That’s what’s important. I don’t give a s**t, and I want everyone who’s watching this to do this verbatim.”
On not worrying about how it would be seen: “I don’t give a s**t if there’s some tribalism from the fans. I don’t care if someone from my company or over there thinks it’s a bad look. I don’t give a f**k. That is my friend. One thing about me is I’m genuinely going to be a friend no matter what, and if you ride for me, I’m gonna’ ride for you. So it’s important that I go there and see a guy who is ultimately on the biggest chapter of his career. It was important for me to be there because I would want the same damn thing.
“Like I said, I don’t care what tribalism happens from the fans, from the people I work with, over there, it was important for me to go and support my friend on one of the biggest nights of his life because that’s what friends do. If there’s one thing about me, it’s that I’m a genuine down-ass person that will ride for my friends, and nobody will question me for that. I refuse to let anybody question me. Or even try to give me any type of pushback on it. Because I’m a grown-ass person, I can do that.”
