By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Ridge Holland (Luke Menzies) explained in a Cultaholic.com interview why he opted for a one-year deal with NXT rather than sign the three-year deal that was offered to him in 2024. “Taking it right back, after my contract was due for renewal previously, when I went to NXT, they offered me a three-year deal at a 50 percent pay cut,” Holland said. “With everything financially, I’m like, ‘I can’t tie myself in for three years for that. It’s impossible. So, can I do a one-year extension, and I’ll try and make it work?’ We’ll cut back where we can and try, and even then, that’s what started the financial issues there, because it’s just three kids, and everything that people don’t understand what you have to pay for. It’s health insurance, don’t forget we’ve got to pay for our own green cards. Everything from insurance to houses to mortgages comes at a premium when you’re not an actual resident. You’re a higher risk, so you pay a higher premium for that.”
Holland also explained what triggered him to vent on social media about WWE informing him that his NXT deal would not be renewed. “So the house, we’ve got a foreclosure notification on the house, so I just took to Twitter and I just needed to vent,” recalled Holland. “I’m not gonna vent to my wife, she doesn’t need it. She knows. She doesn’t need me pissing and moaning, so I just typed it out. It was kind of like a way of coping. I shouldn’t have done it. I shouldn’t have let my emotions get to me. Then, obviously, what’s the old saying? Blow your feathers, you get your ass tickled.” Check the full interview at Cultaholic.com.
Powell’s POV: I’m not familiar with that old saying. Anyway, WWE cut Holland with ten days remaining on his deal, saying he breached his contract by posting his comments online. Holland stated later in the interview that the company called to inform him that he was being cut roughly two hours after he posted those comments online. Holland also said he told his mother to cancel the GoFundMe campaign that she started to help him and his family, which he said was done without his approval. Holland said he intends to donate the money pledged to charity.
For those who missed our past reports, Holland is recovering from a Lisfranc injury suffered while on loan from NXT to TNA during a September 27 match with Moose. Holland wrote on social media that WWE is covering the cost of his rehabilitation, but the injury prevents him from working. Holland indicated that he will also need neck fusion surgery, which WWE will also cover.
(Jason Powell, founder and editor of ProWrestling.net, has covered pro wrestling full-time dating back to 1997. He hosts a weekly podcast, Pro Wrestling Boom, and also appears regularly on the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast. Reach him via email at dotnetjason@gmail.com and on social media via @prowrestlingnet.bsky.social or x.com/prowrestlingnet. For his full bio and information on this website, click here.)
He was in the WWE system for 7 years. He spent 3 of those on the main roster where base pay is $350k-$500k for the lowest level guys. He took a pay cut down to somewhere around half of that.
How the hell do you make somewhere around $2 million, minimum, over a 7 year period and not have enough to pay your mortgage? There’s also the 7-8 years of professional rugby.
He was injury prone and sloppy. It’s a miracle he lasted as long as he did. His situation sucks but whining on social media won’t fix anything
Go to AEW Ridge when you’re healthy.
Maybe you can join the Callis family.
Big E:”Now that’s karma!”