wrestling / News

Ricky Starks Says Hook Is The Same Backstage As He Is On Television

March 3, 2022 | Posted by Joseph Lee
HOOK AEW Rampage Image Credit: AEW

In an interview with Comicbook.com, Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs spoke about being a part of Team Taz and Starks said Hook is the same backstage as he is on TV. Here are highlights:

Starks on coming up with his Roshambo counter from the Lethal Injection: “Absolutely. I’m not even kidding. I was cutting onions in my kitchen when I had this epiphany and I was like, “I could easily do that. And no one would expect it. He wouldn’t expect it either.” And so I think a lot of people look at me and don’t expect me to be as strong as I am or as quick as I am, but yeah, man, that was a great moment. Especially to get the victory too. And I beat somebody like Jay Lethal, so it was cool. It was really cool. I didn’t realize it went viral. I guess it did, ’cause my mom texted me about it. She was like, ‘This is cool. What is this?'”

Starks on what Hook is like backstage: “The same guy, there’s no difference I remember when he first started with us back in Jacksonville. A lot of people didn’t get him. A lot of people did not understand him or like couldn’t figure out what [he] was about. And I’ll never forget being like, “Hey if you wanna wear a hood on TV, you should do it. Just try it, just do it.” And his dad [Taz] was like, “No, he’s gotta show his face.” [I said] “No just let him do it. Let’s see what happens.” So it’s cool to see that it take off the way it has. And obviously we are very proud to see how far he’s come. Especially from when he first started to where it is now. The Team Taz group has been through a lot, quite a bit. And where we’re at right now is not where we want to be, but it’s way better than where we were. So I’m glad and I’m proud to see where he’s at. And he’s awesome.”

Hobbs on being left out of the four pillars talk: “We like to, Ricky and I, we rewrite things. So I personally feel, when he and I came into AEW it was during the pandemic era. We got signed about a month apart from each other. I feel that there’s doubters out there and I feel every time he steps in the ring and I step in the ring, we change things up, we open everyone’s eyes. Things will change.”

Hobbs on the relationship with Team Taz: “I think everyone thinks there’s some dysfunction in our group. We all have our own path, but when things get cracking, we all merge back together.”