Cody Rhodes Says Ricky Starks Accompanying Him To The 2023 Royal Rumble Was “Not A Big Deal”

Cody Rhodes has now commented on the viral photo of AEW’s Ricky Starks being with him backstage at WWE Royal Rumble 2023. The photo, which was taken from a surveillance camera, portrays Starks alongside his mentor Cody backstage at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

In an interview with Alex McCarthy of Sportsmail, Cody Rhodes addressed the photo, explaining that Ricky Starks was there to support him ahead of his gala victory in the 30-Man Royal Rumble Match.

“Yeah. What an idiot, though, right? Listen, it’s one of those things where the locker rooms have crossover. People are married to other people from other locker rooms. People are friends. This is a kid I started on his journey at my former home, and obviously, I want to follow and see his journey, but I will say it’s probably best that none of my friends come and visit me at the shows anymore. We don’t need security cam footage of that. Poor dude. I hope he didn’t get in any trouble. I don’t think he did. He was there to support a friend who had been absolutely down and out with a pec injury,”

“Ricky was one of the guys who nursed me through it to a degree and helped remind me of who I can be. I was happy to have him, and I had some other friends there. The other friends stayed on the bus because they were not crazy yayhoos. Hopefully, we can watch each other from a distance. I don’t want to cause any strife between any places. We all love the same thing. It’s the squared circle, it’s the wrestling industry, and I always think I don’t have any rules. There are rules, so.”

Cody Rhodes

Ricky Starks is currently engaged in a feud with the Jericho Appreciation Society on AEW programming. As for Cody Rhodes, the winner of the 2023 Men’s Royal Rumble was confronted by Paul Heyman this week on Monday Night RAW, who turned The American Nightmare’s WrestleMania storyline with Roman Reigns deeply personal.

Follow Corey at @CoreyBrennanBS on Twitter

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