Richard Holliday didn’t get a WWE contract after his 2023 tryout, but he did leave with one message that completely changed how he handled his career. WWE told him to step up his social media game.
Speaking on the Direct Discussions podcast, Holliday looked back at his September 2023 WWE tryout, which came only months after he returned to wrestling following treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma. The turnaround was fast. Holliday had undergone chemotherapy earlier that year and was already standing in front of WWE by September.
“So when I came back to wrestling in June of ’23, I had a WWE tryout in September of ’23. So I’m like a couple months removed from — I had chemo in February. Now I got a WWE tryout in September, right? That’s not a lot of time in between.”
WWE ultimately passed on signing him. Instead of just sending him home empty-handed, Holliday said he was given some advice on the way out: put more effort into social media.
“So I’m there, and ultimately they said, ‘We’re not going to offer you anything at this time.’ Okay. And I got a little advice to say, ‘Maybe try putting a little bit more into social media.’ Okay, challenge accepted.”
Holliday clearly took that personally. Three years later, he says he has turned himself into one of the strongest social media personalities anywhere on the independent scene.
“Now fast forward, I feel like I am the most untouchable on social media in independent wrestling. I don’t think anybody can touch me. But part of that is because I’m relentless in the marketing.”
He is not shy about putting himself over either. Holliday praised his own content, plugged his accounts and made it clear that he does not need anybody else helping him sell himself.
“Also, I have tremendous ideas. All of my content is great, is hilarious. If you don’t follow me, Most Marketable on Instagram, on Twitter, on TikTok. I told you I’d plug myself. I don’t need the ‘Where do you want — where can we find you?’ I do it all on my own, okay? I am my own machine.”
That aggressive approach has apparently paid off. Holliday said other wrestlers now come to him asking how he keeps producing content, and his advice is simple: stop overthinking it and post.
“I am relentlessly marketing, and now I have wrestlers of all different — I want to say age brackets, but all different tenures, right? A couple years in to over a decade in — ‘How do you find all this inspiration? How do you do all the social media?’”
If something bombs, Holliday just moves on. More importantly, he says the online attention is turning into actual money and bookings. Promoters have straight-up told him they booked him because of how hot he was online.
“And I just tell them, if I think an idea is good, I do it. I just do it because what’s the worst that happens? It stinks. Okay, that idea stunk. I’m going to go somewhere else. But if I can pump out a bunch of things, something’s going to stick.”
“I’ve had plenty of instances where companies have said to me, ‘Yeah, we booked you because you’re hot online.’ Okay, great.”
The timing is interesting because Holliday’s WWE future has come back into question. Sean Ross Sapp recently said that while people inside WWE had previously believed Holliday was headed there, he no longer believes that move is happening right now.
WWE may have rejected Richard Holliday in 2023, but the advice they gave him clearly stuck. Instead of disappearing after the tryout, he turned social media into one of his biggest weapons and says it is now directly getting him booked.
What do you think about WWE telling Richard Holliday to improve his social media after passing on him? Did that rejection actually help his career in the long run? Let us know what you think in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
