Following Ridge Holland’s traumatic incident with Big E, the former WWE wrestler recently revealed how Vince McMahon and Bruce Prichard possibly messed with him after that.
In an exclusive interview with F4Wonline, Holland opened up on the ‘extremely difficult’ aftermath he faced following the incident with Big E. “ It was extremely difficult. Obviously, I’ll always preface it by saying the main point is that making sure that Big E was okay, and he’s all good now, and he’s healthy. But at the time, from a personal standpoint, it was probably one of the hardest times of my life. Coming in as a relatively unknown entertainer onto the main roster and then you know, being involved in an accident which put one of the biggest stars in the company on the shelf,” he said.
“So, from like death threats to all the social media things, it kind of marred my…kind of like drove a certain perception of me with fans that I struggled to kind of shake. And I’m sure that kind of went up into the, you know, the higher up into the office and stuff. And I just think their confidence in me, and especially my confidence in my own performance, was definitely affected ’cause I didn’t really wanna get in the ring. I was very nervous about getting in the ring after that. It shook me. So, yeah, it affected everything, home life, everything.”
However, when asked how the incident affected his working relationship with WWE and the higher-ups, Holland revealed an incident that he believes Vince McMahon and Bruce Prichard did to mess with him.
“So initially, I was offered to go to counseling and stuff like that. Like it would be like, you know, obviously, like speak to someone, which I declined at that minute. I just didn’t really wanna speak to anyone, to be honest. The initial backlash, obviously, it’s funny ’cause the week, the week after, which I thought was kind of rough, they wanted me to do an apology promo live before I went out for a match.
“And I remember there were Vince [McMahon] and Bruce [Prichard] standing there, and they were counting down like thirty seconds till we go live. And I’m thinking, ‘I don’t know what I’m gonna say. I’m just gonna speak from the heart.’ And then it got to like five, four, and then they cut it. They just didn’t do promos right then. And then I had to go out and wrestle a match. So I think that was in poor taste. I think they did that to mess with me, and it really put a bad taste in my mouth, and I never really looked at those people the same, to be honest. I thought it was in really poor taste,” Holland finished.
Despite not being close friends with Big E, Holland respects the former WWE Champion and recently exchanged pleasantries with him at WWE WrestleMania 42. “I’ve had a couple of, you know, conversations with Big E. I actually saw him at WrestleMania. You know, I met his fiancée, and we just swapped pleasantries. You know, we were never close friends, but you know, I respect him, and I hope that goes both ways. I sent him some things, you know, to say sorry and profusely apologized, and I was in contact with him via text, you know, for days and weeks after, after the accident, checking in.“
The incident led to a lack of confidence in Holland, which he believes kept hanging over him. “It was tough just trying to kinda find myself again as a performer because I really was, on the main roster, being kinda like a Sheamus’ lackey. I never really got to find that area of like character development and wrestle like how I wanted to wrestle or be given the time to develop. And then obviously, with that hanging over me came confidence issues and stuff. So it kind of affected me. And the fans kinda labeled me as being unsafe and not being able to wrestle, and that followed me through, and it probably will for quite a while. So just trying to prove to myself that I am good at this, which I know I am. And trying to prove the naysayers wrong.“
Despite all the setbacks, Holland found his flow and enjoyed a successful second run in WWE NXT, Evolve, and TNA, before suffering an injury and getting released.
Ridge Holland looks back at his TNA injury and WWE release
Following a brief two-year run on the main roster, Holland returned to NXT. Looking back at his second NXT run under Shawn Michaels, he shared, “You know, we came in, and it was my idea to kind of run with the dangerous kinda, always injuring people. So that was my thing. I always wanted to come back, and the arc was to try a redemption arc. So I was always trying to do good, but things kept going wrong. And then the heel turn came. It’s when I started to realize, ‘Well, maybe I’m good at it. This is what I should do. Maybe I should be hurting people.’”
However, the incident with Ilja Dragunov became another turning point in his career. “But then, when the Ilja [Dragunov] thing happened, it got a great reaction. You know, it was all over social media and everything, and then I got the word that the higher-ups said it was too close to the bone, so they had to call me off. That’s what it felt like for my whole NXT run. I would get, you know, get hot and then something would happen. I’d get hot, and something would happen. But I thought I was probably the best heel on the show leading up to the Chase U thing. Yeah. I thought I was getting great heat, great reactions. There was never a silent moment in the crowd, and it was weird.”
Looking back at his second NXT and Evolve run, Holland believes he was lied to by WWE management, who kept assuring him everything was okay despite removing him from televised programs.
“I just got dropped off TV after the, after I lost to Ricky Saints, actually. I just got dropped off TV, and then the next thing was like, ‘Oh, four months later you’re going to Evolve.’ And I kinda knew the writing was on the wall then. I asked if there was anything that I could’ve worked on. Is it my work, my promos? What is it? They said, ‘No, everything’s cool.’ Which is a lie, you know. Obviously, they took me off TV for a reason. So frustrating, but I took the jump to Evolve as another opportunity to kinda rebrand myself, trying to take the positive out of a negative.“
Last year, in September 2025, Holland, aka Luke Menzies, made his TNA debut against Mike Santana. While he believes he had a good match with Santana and it showed him a “shimmer of hope,” things again fell apart when he injured himself during his bout against Moose.
Walking through the exact moment of the injury, Holland shared, “I was, uh, gonna give Moose a pop-up powerbomb, and because he’s so athletic and you know, he jumped so high, I thought I was gonna lose him. So I stepped forward, and he came down. I took a step back, and the foot that stepped back just twisted in my boot. Yeah. And that’s what caused the injury there. And obviously, I couldn’t really put weight on my foot, and I thought for his safety and my safety, I’ve been in that situation before, I don’t want anyone else to get hurt. I couldn’t continue. And then, went to the back, got seen by some medical personnel. And then it was just basically fly home, WWE paid for imaging, found out the extent of the injury, and then, you know, obviously went through surgery.“
However, the 37-year-old believes WWE releasing him while injured was “bad company practice.” Reflecting on the situation, he said, “ I think it was just the fact that the situation was pretty murky. It could’ve been anyone who went through that situation. I think there’d have been a bit of an outcry, but, you know, as I said, I wasn’t able to wrestle and earn a living for seven months, and to be unemployed at that point. Couldn’t really walk, put weight on my foot, or anything. So it’s not as if I could go out and get a regular job. So yeah, it was a pretty poor situation. I thought it was bad business practice. I just don’t think that you do that to human beings. But unfortunately it’s, it’s corporate America, right? Things happen.”
Now gearing up for his indie comeback dates and a run in the UK’s National Wrestling League, Holland is looking forward to reinventing himself and not targeting any specific promotion, be it AEW or other companies.
“So at the minute, my biggest thing is to totally reinvent myself, just work anywhere and everywhere, and not have my heart set on working for a particular company. It’s more or less starting from the ground up, just starting from scratch and creating a little bit of a buzz and just showing people, you know, what I can do. So yeah, it’s just a matter of picking up as many bookings as I can, and obviously trying to give back as well, trying to help in any way.“
Holland believes he has now acquired knowledge that he believes will be valuable to elevate other wrestlers and himself. “I’ve learned some lessons, and I’ve learned some things. I’ve got a certain amount of knowledge that will be valuable to some other people. So if I can elevate myself, but elevate other people at the same time, that’s the goal.”
