Ridge Holland is pulling back the curtain on one of the stranger problems behind the Brawling Brutes, and it sounds like WWE had trouble figuring out who they actually were.
During his conversation with Sports Jedi Network, the former WWE star talked about teaming with Sheamus and Pete Dunne on the main roster. Holland said the group had chemistry and a lot of room to grow, but the creative direction was not always clear. He said the Brawling Brutes were often left trying to figure things out as they went.
“I mean, it was hard because we didn’t really know what ideas they had for the group. We didn’t know kind of what direction we were going in. We didn’t really know what they wanted. I was just gonna try and do. Why always just be aggressive and try and make my stuff look, as, look as real as possible and see what happened.”
Holland said it was great working with guys from Europe, but he also believed WWE could have done a lot more with how they acted and spoke. The problem was that some of the UK language and culture did not always translate backstage.
“But, you know, it was great. Obviously, lads. Lads from Europe. Lots. Lots from. From, you know, England and Ireland. And I think we could have. I think. I think we could have taken it a lot further, like with how we would act. But a lot of the time when you get into the certain vernacular and things that we say in the uk, it can kind of get lost over here in the States.”
Then Holland gave a wild example from his first live promo on SmackDown. WWE apparently scripted him with wording that sounded Scottish, even though he is English.
“And I remember I was cutting one promo. It was a live promo, actually my first ever promo on Smackdown. And it was terrible. And they give me the script and they said, one of the scripts was when I was a wee lad. And we. That’s what people in Scotland say.”
Holland said he had to point out the obvious.
“And I went, you understand I’m not Scottish, right? I’m English. And they couldn’t differentiate between the accents. So it just goes to show that there’s a little bit of ignorance there.”
He said that lack of understanding put the group behind the eight ball because WWE did not know how to present them the same way they would present an American act.
“So I think we were just behind the eight ball because people didn’t understand how to present us, whereas if we’d have been American, you know.”
Holland also compared it to WWE using formulas they already know work. He said when WWE has a known reference point, like with certain powerhouse characters, they know the recipe. With the Brawling Brutes, he felt there was no easy playbook.
“And WWE always has a way of. They. They. If they’ve got like. For instance, if you look at like Solo or Jacob Fatu or it’s like, okay, we’re gonna make them Omega because they know that Omega worked in the past. So they already have like a. A recipe there that they know what works.”
For Holland, the Brawling Brutes were not short on talent. The issue was WWE not knowing exactly how to package them beyond the surface-level idea.
Do you think WWE dropped the ball with the Brawling Brutes, or did the group go as far as it was ever going to go? Let us know in the comments.
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