Richard Holliday looked like he was on a straight path to WWE earlier this year, but that story has taken a hard turn. After months of signs pointing toward a deal, there’s now doubt that he’s actually headed to the company at all.
During an October 2026 Q&A, Sean Ross Sapp said he checked into Holliday’s situation and came away believing a WWE move is not happening right now. The bigger surprise is that people inside WWE apparently thought Holliday was coming in too.
“I asked about the Richard Holliday thing. I don’t think he’s headed to WWE considering he was talking to me about possibly winning the Independent Wrestler of the Year award, and if he is signed, he can’t win it. So I don’t think that he’s headed there. There were people in WWE that thought he was and honestly are puzzled that he’s not apparently. You know what I mean?”
That makes this a pretty strange turn considering how things looked over the summer. Ringside News previously covered Holliday leaving his boots in the ring after his GCW Melee match, which immediately fueled speculation that he was closing one chapter before moving on to something bigger.
There were also signs of real interest behind the scenes. Ringside News previously noted that Holliday’s absence from TNA tapings raised eyebrows while WWE interest continued to grow, with one source at the time expecting him to eventually land with the company.
That talk only got louder when people inside WWE believed Holliday was headed to NXT. There was even consideration given to revealing him as part of the WWE ID program during WrestleMania 42 weekend before that never came together.
Holliday has also made it clear that major companies have been watching him. Ringside News covered his comments earlier this year about his previous WWE tryout and his confidence that bigger promotions had him on their radar.
Now the whole thing is sitting in limbo. Holliday went from looking like a strong WWE candidate to having people inside the company wondering why he apparently isn’t coming in after all.
For now, there’s no WWE deal and no clear explanation for why something that seemed to be gaining momentum suddenly stalled out. That leaves Holliday right back where he started — one of the more interesting names outside WWE with plenty of eyes still on him.
Do you think Richard Holliday still ends up in WWE eventually, or has that opportunity cooled off for good? Let us know what you think and leave your feedback in the comments below.
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