AEW star Kyle Fletcher has responded to recent comments made by Stevie Richards, explaining that while he welcomes criticism, he does not believe Richards’ remarks were made in good faith.

Richards, who gained recognition for his time in ECW and WWE, has been running a YouTube channel where he shares his views on the wrestling industry. In a recent video titled “What is Kyle Fletcher Missing?”, Richards described Fletcher as someone with potential who still needs more experience, especially in terms of psychology, and suggested tougher coaching. He even predicted Fletcher could one day be part of WWE NXT.

“He looks like an eventual NXT Superstar,” Richards said in the clip that sparked widespread debate online.

Speaking on The Ringer Wrestling Show, Fletcher revealed he took the time to watch the full video and not just the circulating clips.

“Of course, yeah,” Fletcher said when asked if he saw the comments. “I think a lot of people on Twitter or whatever will just look at the one clip that gets posted. I went and I watched the full thing, everything that he said. Look, I’m not going to , I’m open to any and all critiques. That is fine. I’m in a world where it’s like, everyone is allowed to have an opinion. He has an opinion on who I am and what I am as a wrestler, and that’s fine.

“It just doesn’t feel like it’s in good faith, if that makes sense. I think a lot of those guys, they just kind of look for the buzzwords and look for the things that are going to get clicks or whatever. I don’t think he spoke a lot about, like, what the culture is at AEW. I don’t think he knows anything about the culture at AEW. He said there’s no one there for me to learn from. I think that’s absolute fcking horsesht, you know what I mean? I am learning from people every single day that I’m there. There’s so many great minds there. There’s Bryan Danielson there almost every week.”

Fletcher emphasized that while he did not agree with the way Richards framed his critique, he is still open to feedback.

“I mean, I’m open to criticism. I just don’t think it was in the best faith. But no ill will. I’m open to critique at any and all times. I’m 26 years old. I’m still trying to learn this business, man. I have a lot more room to grow, for sure.”

After building his name as a tag team wrestler, Fletcher has quickly risen in AEW as a singles competitor. He is now preparing for the biggest match of his career, a showdown with Hangman Page for the AEW World Championship at All Out on September 20.

All Out has been shifted to an afternoon slot after WWE announced its Wrestlepalooza premium live event to directly compete on the same day. Fletcher admitted the added pressure only fuels his motivation.

“Yeah, I think there has to be a little bit of that, right?,” Fletcher said. “It’s in my very competitive nature to just be like, ‘All right, if this is what you want to do, I’m just going to go out there and I’m going to absolutely kill it. And then what are you going to say about it?’

“So, yeah, there is a little bit of that. I put a lot of pressure on myself to perform at the highest level and under these high-pressure scenarios. But, yeah, I think this is probably the biggest opportunity I’ve had to this point to really go out there and show out. I just got to go out there and do what I know I can do, and then stick it to them, you know what I mean?”