Starks idolized wrestlers includingThe Undertaker,The Rock, andMankind, among many others, while growing up watchingprofessional wrestling. Around the age of seventeen, Starks decided he would pursue his dream of becoming a professional wrestler. Before signing withWWE, Starks worked four matches for the promotion as anenhancement talent, losing against wrestlers likeJinder Mahal,Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady,Kane andThe Revival (Scott Dawson andDash Wilder),[4][5][6][7] before debuting for theNational Wrestling Alliance's (NWA) Velocity Pro Wrestling on October 14, 2012 at the NWA Velocity Haunted Havoc event inAustin, Texas. There, he wrestled in atriple threat match against Jaykus Plisken and Big Ricky. Since 2012, Starks became a regular talent featured across numerous promotions in the state ofTexas, like Anarchy Championship Wrestling and Inspire Pro Wrestling. He appeared in aWWE backstage video on the July 29, 2013 episode ofRaw, where he was bullied, mocked, and slammed through a table byRyback.[8] Starks again made an appearance on the March 19, 2018 episode ofRaw as aUS Marshal, arrestingRoman Reigns, only for Starks to be attacked by Reigns.[9]
On the June 17, 2020 episode ofAEW Dynamite, Starks made his unannounced debut forAll Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he answeredCody's open challenge for theAEW TNT Championship in a losing effort.[17] After the match, AEW CEOTony Khan announced that Starks had signed with the promotion.[18] On the June 30 episode ofDark, Starks picked up his first victory in AEW by defeatingGriff Garrison while quickly establishing himself as aheel.[19] On the July 21 episode ofDark, after defeatingWill Hobbs, Starks aidedBrian Cage in attackingRobert Anthony andDarby Allin after their match, creating an alliance between the two.[20] The team, managed byTaz and now known asTeam Taz, began feuding with Allin as they faced Allin andJon Moxley on the July 29 episode ofDynamite where they were defeated.[21] At theAll Out pay-per-view on September 5, Starks participated in theCasino Battle Royale, but he was eliminated by Allin.[22] On the November 18 episode ofDynamite,Will Hobbs would join Starks, Taz, and Cage's alliance after he struck Cody with Cage'sFTW Championship belt and then assisted them in attacking both Allin and Cody as well.[23] On the December 2 episode ofDynamite: Winter Is Coming, Starks and Hobbs, the latter now known as Powerhouse Hobbs, would lose a tag team match to Cody and Allin, after which,Sting made his AEW debut and ran Team Taz off after a post-match attack.[24] On the January 20 episode ofDynamite, it was announced that Starks and Brian Cage would be facing Allin and Sting in a street fight atRevolution, acinematic match that Starks and Cage ultimately lost.[25] On July 14, 2021, on night one ofFyter Fest, Starks won the FTW World Championship from Brian Cage, winning his first championship in AEW, although the FTW title is not an officially sanctioned championship in the company.[26] On an episode ofRampage, Starks defeated Cage in a Philly street fight. Starks would qualify for the "Face of the Revolution"ladder match by defeatingPreston "10" Vance, but would fail to win the match atRevolution. In September 2021, in addition to still being a wrestler on the show, Starks joined theRampage commentary team, replacingMark Henry.[27]
On the July 20, 2022 episode ofDynamite, Starks issued an open challenge for his FTW Championship, where he defeated Cole Karter. After the match, he issued another open challenge for the following week'sDynamite, which was answered byDanhausen. AtFight for the Fallen on July 27, 2022, Starks issued an open challenge immediately after defeatingDanhausen. It was answered by Team Taz teammateHook, who defeated him for the title, ending Starks's reign at 378 days, making him the longest-reigning FTW Champion at the time. After a impassioned post-match promo by Starks, Powerhouse Hobbs attacked him, turning Starksface.[28][29] The following week, Taz, while on commentary, announced that he had dissolved Team Taz. Starks came out to confront Hobbs on the August 3 episode ofDynamite only for his former partner to attack him and leave the ring.[30] The grudge match between Hobbs and Starks was set forAll Out, where Hobbs defeated Starks in just over five minutes.[31] Starks and Hobbs faced off once more atGrand Slam in anUnsanctioned Lights Out match, where Starks defeated Hobbs, ending the feud.[32]
On theThanksgiving Eve special episode ofDynamite on November 23, Starks defeatedEthan Page in the finals of anAEW World Championship Eliminator Tournament to face AEW World ChampionMaxwell Jacob Friedman atDynamite: Winter Is Coming for the title.[33] Two weeks later, on the December 7 edition ofDynamite, Starks competed in theDynamite Dozen Battle Royale, last eliminating Ethan Page to add the Dynamite Diamond Ring as a second prize to his AEW World Championship match.[34] The following week onDynamite, Starks and Friedman faced off in a heated promo, with Starks insulting Friedman's cheap tactics of gaining acclaim, compared to the hard work Starks put in, resulting in Friedman hitting Starks with a low blow, only for Starks to retaliate with a spear, knocking Friedman down.[35] At Winter is Coming, MJF defeated Starks to retain the AEW World Championship and winning Starks' Dynamite Diamond Ring.[36]
Following this loss, Starks entered a feud withChris Jericho, who attempted to recruit Starks into hisJericho Appreciation Society (JAS) group on the December 22 edition ofDynamite, but failed as Starks declined, insulting Jericho and JAS membersSammy Guevara andDaniel Garcia in the process. This led to JAS memberJake Hager attacking Starks along with the remainder of the group until Starks was saved byAction Andretti, who was also feuding with the JAS.[37] Two weeks later on the January 4 edition ofDynamite, Starks defeated Jericho in a singles match, although he and Andretti were attacked by the JAS post-match, including Hagerpowerbombing Starks through a table.[38] Starks avenged the attack, defeating Hager on the January 18 edition ofDynamite.[39] On February 8, Starks faced the JAS in aGauntlet match, defeatingMatt Menard and Angelo Parker but lost toDaniel Garcia.[40] Starks and Jericho's feud culminated atRevolution, where Starks once again defeated Jericho.[41]
Starks then began a feud withJuice Robinson, who attacked Starks on the March 8 edition ofDynamite.[42] The two men were set to face off on the April 5 edition ofDynamite, though before the match formerBullet Club leaderJay White made his debut after signing with AEW, attacking Starks alongside Robinson, causing a no-contest.[43] Starks competed in theOwen Hart Foundation Men's Tournament, defeating Robinson and Powerhouse Hobbs to advance to the tournament finals.[44][45] On the July 15 episode ofCollision, he defeatedCM Punk in the finals to win the men's tournament.[46] On the August 5 episode ofCollision, Starks unsuccessfully challenged Punk for the "Real World Championship", withRicky "the Dragon" Steamboat serving as the special outside enforcer due to Starks cheating to defeat Punk in their previous two matches. After the match, Starks assaulted Steamboat with Steamboat's own belt, thus turning heel.[47][48] As a result of his actions against Steamboat, AEW (kayfabe) suspended Starks from wrestling for 28 days. However, Starks acquired a manager's license in order to continue appearing in AEW and started managingBig Bill.[49][50] On the September 2 episode ofCollision, Starks issued a challenge to Steamboat and signed a match contract tostrap match atAll Out against "The Dragon"."The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson then came out to sign the match contract instead of Steamboat.[51] At All Out, Starks lost to Danielson by technical submission after passing out from Danielson's modified submission using the strap.[52]
On the October 7 episode ofCollision, Starks and Big Cass won their first AEW championship by defeatingFTR (Cash Wheeler andDax Harwood) to become the newAEW World Tag Team Champions.[53] Starks and Big Bill lost the titles toSting and Darby Allin in atornado tag team match on the February 7, 2024 episode ofDynamite, ending their reign at 123 days.[54] On the March 30 episode ofCollision, Starks and Big Bill were defeated by Top Flight (Dante Martin andDarius Martin) in what would be Starks' final AEW match.[55] In February 2025, Starks' profile was removed from AEW's website and he was subsequently released, ending his five-year tenure with the company.[56]
On November 23, 2024, Starks debuted inGame Changer Wrestling (GCW) at GCW Dream On, where he cut a promo stating that "I'd I will be damned if I sit at home and let my career dwindle". Later that night, GCW announced that Starks would faceMatt Cardona at GCW Highest in the Room on December 14.[57] Several days later, GCW announced that Starks had been pulled from all upcoming appearances.[58] On December 29, Starks appeared inDEFY Wrestling at DEFY Blueprint to challengeDEFY World ChampionKenta for the title at DEFY Hundredth on February 7, 2025,[59] where he went on to defeat Kenta for the title.[60] On January 17, Starks made his debut forHouse of Glory (HOG) at HOG Watch The Throne, where he unsuccessfully challengedMike Santana for theHOG Heavyweight Championship.[61] On February 28, Starks relinquished the DEFY World Championship after signing with WWE, ending his reign at 21 days.[62]
Starks returned to WWE as a signed talent on the February 11, 2025 episode ofNXT, adopting the ring nameRicky Saints.[63][64][65] On the February 25 episode ofNXT, Saints wrestled his first match as a WWE talent, teaming withJe'Von Evans to defeatEthan Page andWes Lee in a tag team match.[66] On the March 18 episode ofNXT, Saints defeatedRidge Holland in his first WWE singles match.[67]
Starks grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana and was raised by a single mom with two siblings.[71] Starks has spoken on a number of occasions about his frustrations that people often do not realise he isAfrican-American (Starks has described himself as "light-skinned"),[72] something that was a source of bullying and fights in his childhood.[71][72]
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