Ridge Holland Breaks Silence After WWE Release

Ridge Holland isn’t staying quiet anymore. Days after WWE cut him early from his contract—while he was still rehabbing a serious injury—the former NXT and SmackDown star has launched a new YouTube channel to speak directly to fans. And in his first video, he wastes no time laying out the real story behind his release and what led up to it.

Holland (real name Luke Menzies) opened the video with a calm but clear message: he wants the truth out.

“What’s going on guys? Luke Menzies here. I just want to get on here and start this YouTube channel. And I understand there’s a lot of headlines. There’s a lot of questions—good, bad, positive. I just want to kind of set the record straight and tell my side of the story and my journey in WWE—the good, the bad, the ugly.”

Despite everything, Holland made it clear that his WWE tenure wasn’t all bad. In fact, he says the overall experience changed his life in a positive way—even if recent headlines made it hard to see that.

“I just want to firstly say that my time at WWE was—majority—on a positive note. I enjoyed it. I got to wrestle at WrestleMania. I got to be around some great people. You know, I got to travel the world. It was a hugely positive influence on my life and I am grateful for it. And I know the last 12 months have been rough and obviously the negative always—it always overshadows the positive. But I just want to reiterate that my time at WWE was great, and I am grateful for it.”

But the most powerful part of his message came when Holland described losing everything—twice. Once after his pro rugby career ended on his honeymoon, and again when WWE let him go while he was injured.

“I’d had a 12-year professional rugby league career. That came to an end when I was on honeymoon. Actually, I got married. I was on honeymoon and the club that I played for at the time called me up and fired me while I was on honeymoon.”

The timing was brutal then—and now. But it also sparked his wrestling journey, beginning with a tweet from William Regal, and a leap of faith.

“Two days later, I flew home to the UK and I started my first wrestling practice in Oldham, England. Six months later, I had a WWE tryout.”

Even then, it wasn’t smooth. Holland recalled how his visa got denied just before moving to the U.S., leaving him and his pregnant wife with nowhere to go.

“I came over to Orlando, did my medicals, and then sold my house getting ready to go. I think I was coming in like two weeks, and then they said the visa had been declined. So I was left homeless with a pregnant wife.”

He moved in with his grandfather and hit the indie circuit to build a case for his visa—and finally, in July 2018, he officially began his WWE journey.

While his recent release stirred controversy—especially after WWE cut him early for speaking out about his rehab situation—it’s clear Holland’s focus now is on reclaiming his narrative and building a future on his own terms.

The man’s been fired on his honeymoon and cut while rehabbing an injury. But instead of going dark, Ridge Holland is turning the spotlight on his own truth.

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