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Exclusive: Effy On Tony Khan Controversy, Ricky Starks Wrestling in GCW

Effy clears the air on his recent comments about Tony Khan.
Steven Muelhausen|
Game Changer Wrestling Twitter

One of the biggest topics of conversation in the last seven days was AEW star Ricky Starks being pulled from three GCW events after cutting a promo on their Nov. 23 show in New Jersey.

According to Sean Ross Sapp from Fightful Select, the reason Starks was pulled from the GCW event is because of comments made by GCW talent and independent wrestling star Effy on his podcast in regards to comments made towards AEW Owner Tony Khan's father, Shad Khan.

"I can't imagine I'm one of Tony Khan's favorite people," Effy told The Takedown. "I don't expect him to enjoy being around me. But I also think because I know Sean clarified with him, and if they're saying it's because of my tweet that was directly told to him, it seems like you're more worried about me than I am about you.

"It was easy to make an example of me and say it's because of Effy's words that were so offensive to me. Rather than saying we pulled him the same day his contract leaked, that we had extended his contract, (and) we had exercised the option. We are going to keep him here longer. We have no plans of using him.

"They were saying maybe he was turning down creative. I don't think he's turning anything down. I think he's reminding people that the stuff still has to be watchable for people at home. But it was much easier to go, 'Well, we're going to blame this guy who is GCW through and through, ride or die, than have to say it made us mad that Ricky is talking about his contract in public, and (it) made us mad that Ricky is besmirching us in public'."

MORE: Ricky Starks Addresses AEW Absence & His 'Controversial' WWE Royal Rumble Appearance

While Khan has commented publicly about Starks still having an AEW contract, he nor AEW have explained why he's been pulled from upcoming GCW dates but is allowed to take other independent bookings. He hasn't been on AEW programming since the March 30 episode of Collision. Sapp had reported Starks' option year was picked up earlier this year, which The Takedown can confirm, and extends into the middle of 2025. People have wondered: if AEW hasn’t used Starks for over eight months, why keep him under contract?"

"But I think drawing more attention to the fact that there's this weird contract issue," Effy said. "There's an issue with not letting people go, especially right now with the Royal Rumble around the corner. I'm pretty sure Tony Khan's shaking in his boots that if anybody gets out of contract, they're probably going over to where Cody is and where CM Punk is and make their name over there. You see Ethan Page, who was being critically underutilized in Ring of Honor. He finally got out of the contract. It wasn't that he went back out on the indies to flounder and hope he could make it. He was making connections and making changes to become the NXT champion. To move to another pasture, to provide for his family in a way that was also gratifying for him, in a creative way because he's a wrestler who cares about wrestling.

"If I was showing up to work all the time and not wrestling, it's very difficult to say that it's worth the trade of a constant salary or a bump in money to just sit around on my ass while I'm in the prime of my career. I can't imagine that feels good for someone like Ricky because I know for me, I would have quit on the spot. I would have walked out and probably gotten sued in court 100 times because I'm there to do the job, and if the job isn't there for me to do, there are other places for me to do the job."

MORE: Tony Khan Reveals Key Ingredient To Making New AEW Fans

Effy does a weekly podcast titled, "Weekend At Effy's" with his roommate. The indy star has been doing the podcast for nearly three years. He makes it clear that it's his podcast in his own words and has absolutely no association with GCW.

Sapp reports that AEW was upset at the fact Effy discussed his displeasure of AEW running three events at the Hammerstein Ballroom on Dec. 20, Dec. 21, and Dec. 22 for Ring of Honor Final Battle followed by two days of AEW TV tapings with GCW running the same venue on Jan. 19 for The People vs. GCW. Also in the conversation, Effy said that more or less Shad Khan pays his son to stay away from him.

The 34-year-old had no clue these comments gained any traction until he was reached out to by Sapp and talking with people at GCW. It was out of sight, out of mind for Effy as he didn't think what he said was hurtful towards Khan.

"These clips probably went out the 17th or 18th," Effy admits. "So the episode had been out. Then we do clips to promote it, which is typical for podcasts. So the clips have been out awhile. Then Ricky shows up (that) Saturday at the mall. It goes into the next week, and then by Tuesday, I was getting a phone call from the GCW team saying, 'What did you say about Tony Khan's dad' coming'? Sean Ross called me asking the same thing. So in a panic, I said, 'Oh, did I misspeak? Did I say something really bad?"

"I went back and listened to the clip. and I said, 'I don't think I said anything. It was maybe a bit hyperbolic. It was maybe a bit played in a way where I'm a gay man. I use things that are a little shady. When I'm talking with the girls, we get a little shady. Nobody's that offended by it. But to say that your dad pays you to stay away, I don't think it's the worst thing he's probably ever heard. The bigger point I was making is he has a little bit more advantage right now. There's no reason for him to want to come in and work a show in a venue that we've worked really hard to get back into. We're very small, indie company.

"A lot of other companies have run there. ECW, historically ran there. WWE ran there with ECW. The point I was making, and I wasn't as detailed as I should have been, was within a three-year period where we have not run this venue, why all of the sudden, are you here? It's one month before we're running it. It doesn't seem like they've ever had any lack of venues. It doesn't seem like they've had any lack of places to film. They have their own buildings in Florida. They have their own places. It just seemed a little suspect to me that one month before we're supposed to be there, in a world where I usually assume there's a radius clause."

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Effy tells The Takedown that he talked to Starks multiple times since the controversy. He said that Starks doesn't blame him for getting pulled off the GCW shows by AEW. Despite Starks being taken off these three events, will he still compete inside a GCW ring the future?

"Yes," Effy said emphatically. "I don't think it's going to be right away. But I think over the course of the next year, there's big things on the horizon for Ricky Starks. I'm assuming business people are going to make decisions that aren't going to hurt them in the long run, even if it looks like it hurts them in the short run, and probably set his contract and let him do what he needs to do.

"I do think he's going to have a period where he is out and free and able to do what he wants and hopefully can show up in that ring. I'm not greedy enough to say I'd rather Ricky in GCW than headlining a WrestleMania, winning a Continental Classic or being the top of the card at Full Gear. I want the biggest moments, the best moments and the most paydays for Ricky Starks. But I also want him to be able to wrestle as RIcky Starks and not have to wait 10 months to be given instructions on what his next plan is going to be."

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Steven Muelhausen
STEVEN MUELHAUSEN

: Steven Muehlhausen is a veteran combat sports writer for various outlets including Sporting News and Yahoo Sports. He can be reached at stevemuehlhausen@yahoo.com and followed on Twitter @SMuehlhausenJr.

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