Ricky Starks and Bayley have been the latest potential couple to be talked about in the world of wrestling. The duo are two of the most unique and original characters in wrestling and are on the way to becoming some of the most popular wrestlers worldwide.
Ricky Starks has been one of the breakout stars in AEW in recent years. After making his debut in 2020 as part of Cody Rhodes’ TNT Championship open challenge, he went from strength to strength as part of the menacing Team Tazz.
He recently lost the FTW Championship to Hook, the son of the belts creator Taz. He has now gone out on his own as a face for the first time in AEW, garnering huge reactions during his feud with former partner Will Hobbs.
Meanwhile, Bayley returned to WWE at Summerslam 2022 after over a year out of the ring due to injury. Leading her own stable, named Damage Control, she has established herself as one of the top heels in the WWE women’s division and seems likely to secure herself another world championship reign within the next year, especially with former NXT Boss Triple H in charge of the company.
Despite the pair working for rival companies, questions have been asked about the pairs relationship to each other – Is Ricky Starks Dating Bayley?
Are Ricky Starks and Bayley Dating?
No, Ricky Starks and Bayley are not currently dating. Despite the rumours that the two wrestling superstars were involved with each other, Ricky Starks has come out recently to quell any rumours surrounding the pair.
While the pair have seemed close to each other over the years, their relationship has become anything more than friends. The duo met in 2014, when Bayley was wrestling in NXT and Starks was on the independent scene trying to make a name for himself, meeting through a mutual friend. He also revealed that they “trained together” and “travelled together” and that they are good friends.
In fact, Ricky Starks and Bayley used to live together. They moved in together in 2017 in a shared apartment, although it is not known at what point the pair ceased to cohabit.
Bayley and Starks first began to live together due to her being engaged in a relationship with Starks then-tag team partner Aaron Solo, who now also wrestles for AEW as part of The Factory. While Solo is no longer dating Bayley, she and Starks still remain firm friends to this day.
In an interview with Alex McCarthy of talkSPORT, “Absolute” Ricky Starks spoke about his relationship with Bayley, confirming when they met, what year the lived together and how her relationship with his tag team partner was the catalyst behind them living together. He also called her “one of his closest friends”, despite the pair being either side of a wrestling war.
“She’s my best friend. Me and Aaron Solow [Bayley’s former fiancé] used to be a tag team and we used to live together back in 2017 or something like that. I met her in 2014 and we were just all mutual friends.”
“We’ve definitely trained together, travelled together, she’s a great person. She’s helped me out with advice about life, the wrestling business and she’s been there through it all for me. Especially after the tryout I had with WWE and I didn’t get anything from them. I love her, she’s awesome. She’s one of my closest friends.”
While Bayley and Ricky Starks may not be romantically involved, it’s nice to see their friendship persevere and grow despite her break up with his former tag team partner. Hopefully we’ll be able to see the duo in the same company one day and maybe even wrestle in an intergender match one day in the far off future.
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