Ridge Holland says the Big E accident did more than change how fans looked at him. He says it changed how people inside WWE saw him too.
During his conversation with Sports Jedi Network, Holland was asked whether he felt stereotyped because of that one accident. He did not dance around it. He said yes, and he claimed that perception came from everywhere.
“Yeah, for sure. Yeah. From the top down, from the office to the performers to, to, to the fans, like, I would all get things that I can’t wrestle. Can’t do this. Not good.”
Holland pushed back on the idea that people had actually seen enough of him to make that call. In his mind, fans and people backstage judged him without seeing what he could really do.
“Like, I’m like, you’ve never been in the road brawling brutes? I mean, I was in the ring for two minutes. It’s like, what. You’ve never seen what I can do, you know, so just to say that, it’s like, yeah.”
That frustration tied directly into his later NXT run. Holland said he thought his Chase U work was some of the best heel work on the show, especially because he was getting real heat from the same crowd that watches NXT every week. Holland said WWE did not follow up on it, despite the reaction he was getting.
“But then even like, you’re trying. I had kind of the chase you thing, which I thought I was the best deal on the show, even for. Even in front of that crowd who were jaded, who were. Don’t pay these the same people every week. I was getting genuine heat.”
“And. And they did nothing with it. You know, they did nothing with it. So I was like. I was like, there’s no. I have no support here. Like, there’s no one that wants to get behind me from a. From a creative standpoint, from an office standpoint. So I’m just gonna just do my thing, you know?”
Later in the conversation, Holland explained how much that messed with him mentally. He felt he was doing the best work of his career, but it was not being recognized.
“It’s. It’s, you know, it plays. It plays with your mind because you’re doing. At that point, I think I was doing probably the best work of my career, and. And it just not been recognized.”
He also rejected the idea that a wrestler can simply get themselves over without the company choosing to push them. Holland said WWE has to light the flame, and he felt they had already picked the names they wanted to run with.
“And I think they just. You were just using me to. Because, look, there’s. There’s this thing, like I said before, about like, oh, you’ve got to get yourself over. It doesn’t work like that. You either chosen or you’re not. You might get to a certain point where you’re slightly over right? Or you’re doing good things and. But they have to. They have to, you know, light that. They have to light the flame. You know, they have to go with it.”
Holland named Trick Williams, Oba Femi, and Bron Breakker as examples of wrestlers he felt WWE had chosen early.
“And I just felt like that when I came back, they’d already chosen who they wanted to be. You know, I feel like from dip, from early on, like, Trick was one, Oba was one, Bron was one. You know, they’ve got these guys that the chosen, irrespective of anyone else, kind of sneaking up and, and getting a reaction and doing good work, you know, on the other side.”
For Holland, the Big E accident became a shadow that followed him through WWE. He felt the label stuck, even when he believed he was finally showing stronger character work and getting real reactions.
Do you think Ridge Holland was unfairly judged after the Big E accident, or was WWE right to be careful with how they used him? Sound off in the comments and let us know where you stand.
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