Ricky Star💖ks re👍flects on his Strap Match with Bryan Danielson at All Out 2023.
In August of 2023, Starks was in the midst of a storyli♔ne with CM Punk. However, following Punk's firi𒆙ng from the company, Starks was left without an opponent for AEW All Out. In stepped Bryan Danielson, who was still carrying injuries with him at the time.
While s൲peaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Starks reflected on the strap match and his belief that Danielson wanted to test him.
"I’m sitting backwards, and that first whack from the leather strap echos throughout the arena. I remember feeling this jolt. Later on, Bryan is tagging me in the face with the strap and he’s like, ‘Are you going to take it? Are you a man?’ This is my theory. I think Bryan thought I was a pussy. I think he thought I was a pussy because of how I look. ‘This pretty boy is going to welt.’ What I’m trying to say is, he wanted to test me, and I love that. I love that he wanted to test me and I definitely think I passed with flying colors."
Chris then aske🍒d Starks if the pair talked after the bout, revealing that Danielson actually yelled at him in gorilla.
"Absolutely we did. He yelled at me in the most positive way in Gorilla and said, ‘You have been given obstacle after obstacle and you have fucking knocked it out of the park every single time. Every single time! Every single time you have delivered when they thought you would drown. That right there, if anybody had an ounce of doubt about you, you have proven them that you are who you say you are. That is a main event.’ That’s what he said to me."
