Adam Copeland dismissed the idea that there was any real heat between himself and Ricky Starks following their infamous 2023 promo exchange on AEW Collision, speaking with SHAK Wrestling’s Shakiel Mahjouri ahead of Forbidden Door.
“We got out there. He started cutting a promo on me, and I’m like, ‘I’m not in an angle with him. Okay.’ That was it. It was like a thousand promos in the Attitude Era. By the next day it was, ‘Now what do we have?’ I don’t care. I’m sure Ricky doesn’t. I don’t care,” Copeland said.
The October 14, 2023, segment became widely shared online when Copeland called Starks a “vanilla midget version” of The Rock after Starks called him “bug-eyed.” The exchange appeared off-script and generated significant online discussion about potential backstage tension between the two.