Ridge Holland Claims WWE Management Ghosted Him Before Exit

Ridge Holland is pulling no punches about how things ended for him in WWE.

Speaking on Busted Open Radio, the former NXT and SmackDown star revealed that during the final year of his run, WWE management left him in the dark, ignored his efforts to improve, and ultimately ghosted him as his release loomed.

Holland admitted he was confused when WWE took him off TV. In response, he asked for feedback, pitched creative ideas, and tried to find out if there was something he needed to fix. But according to him, nobody gave him a straight answer.

“I asked the questions. I said, is there anything I need to work on? I got taken off TV, I was asking, I was pitching ideas. One of the pitches was for me and Inamura to do a best out of five series. And I pitched a few things. And I kept asking — is it my promos? Is it my work? What do I need to do? What have I done wrong? And everyone says, ‘No, everything’s fine.’ And I’m like, I ain’t stupid, you know? Don’t piss in my pocket and tell me it’s raining.”

Advertising

Advertising

The silence only got more uncomfortable. One day, a coach pulled him aside and randomly asked if he had started reaching out to other companies—despite still being under WWE contract.

“And then I remember walking into the training center one day and a head coach pulled me over and said, ‘Hey, have you put any feelers out anywhere?’ And I’m like, what do you mean? He said, ‘Well, you know, creative’s not really had your name mentioned and stuff.’ And I’m thinking in my head, well, I can’t put any feelers out — I’m under contract, you know?”

Ridge circled back to that coach, hoping for honesty, but was told that nothing official had been decided. Still, the message was loud and clear.

“So I circle back around with that certain coach. I went, you know, that kind of upset me a bit. Like, do you know anything? Because I think the relationship that we have, I think you should let me know if you know anything — if the writing is on the wall. It was like, ‘No, no, no, don’t know anything. Just because creative hasn’t really brought your name up recently.’ Okay. So you can kind of put the jigsaw pieces together, do you know what I mean?”

Things got worse when he reached out to upper management directly. According to Ridge, he was completely ignored.

“Yeah, I mean, it would have been nice to say, listen, this is what we’re thinking or this is why. I mean, I sent texts to, you know, the head guy asking to meet — and I got ghosted, like, three times. So you kind of know it.”

This isn’t the first time Ridge has spoken up about how WWE handled his departure. He previously revealed that WWE offered him a lowball 3-year contract, which he pushed back on and renegotiated down to a 1-year deal.

Ridge’s experience sheds light on what many talent face behind the curtain: the anxiety of being kept in the dark, the frustration of no feedback, and the emotional toll of trying to fight for your spot without any real support. Whether you were a fan of his booking or not, his honesty makes one thing clear—he was trying, and no one was listening.

Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.