David Starr Credits ROH for Shutting Down During the Coronavirus, Thinks AEW Could Put Pressure on WWE by Pulling Their Shows

– The Wrestling Inc. Daily recently interviewed indy wrestler David Starr, who commented on Ring of Honor temporarily shutting down due to the coronavirus. Meanwhile, other wrestling promotions, such as AEW and WWE have continued to conduct business and put on their TV shows, granted with limited personnel and no audiences present. Below are some highlights of Starr discussing the matter, via WrestlingInc.com.

His thoughts on ROH shutting down during the coronavirus pandemic: “That’s great. The way I feel about Sinclair Broadcasting and people like Joe Koff – I haven’t made it a secret that I’m not a big fan but I’ll give credit where credit is due. That’s awesome. There obviously is motive behind that because Sinclair doesn’t care that much about ROH and they use it mostly as a tax write-off. So, it is easier for them to make that decision because they don’t care that much about it and the contracts given to wrestlers are drops in the bucket for Sinclair. Regardless of the motivation, it still is the best thing to do. Good job Ring of Honor. Kudos.”

David Starr on AEW and WWE still putting on shows right now: “This whole supposed competition between them is billionaire company vs. billionaire company. Who’s gonna have the best pretend fighting show on TV? Who cares? But if it gets into a competition of who’s gonna treat the workers best… then this is a win. AEW has a chance to put a lot of pressure on WWE by pulling their shows first. I hope they do that. They can’t be the ones who follow and they have to say, ‘You know what? This is too much and we’re not doing it anymore.’ They would put so much pressure on WWE. It’s the same thing with all of their benefits. The fact that AEW has given a bunch of people health insurance is great. But you haven’t given it to everybody so you’re essentially picking. Just get everybody covered and that puts so much pressure on WWE to do the same thing.”

Starr on up and coming talent traveling right now to take a tryout or opportunity with a bigger promotion: “Obviously, it’s not the best to have matches with no one there. It’s weird and can feel awkward sometimes. Of course, the people in the back are able to make an evaluation on a match but it’s really hard to gauge what they would see if there’s no actual interactive audience. That’s unfortunate and it does suck if you’re that talent and you don’t feel comfortable traveling, are you guaranteed a tryout to be seen when we’re done with all of this?”

“If you’re offered a tryout that’s been booked for a while and there’s no fans there and you don’t feel comfortable traveling, if I say ‘no’ then am I still gonna get this tryout later? Or am I next in line from other people who have all said ‘no’? Am I breaking a chain and making them look bad? We all have to stay together and stay inside. It is just that. No one can go out and it has to be government-mandated.”