Ex-WWE Star Pitched To Win Major Title Before Firing

A former WWE star has revealed he pitched to win a major title before he was fired by the company.

Ridge Holland’s WWE career came to a controversial end in recent weeks. Holland suffered a serious injury during a match for TNA that looks likely to keep him out of the ring well into 2026.

While recovering from that injury, Holland was told by WWE that his contract was not going to be renewed; however, the company would continue to pay for his medical care stemming from his injury. The English star later blasted the company as he worried about paying his mortgage on social media, which led to WWE cutting his contract early.

But things could have been very different in his career if he had got his way.

Ridge Holland Wanted WWE NXT Title

Speaking to Cultaholic’s Tom Campbell, Holland revealed he had pitched to win the NXT Championship during his time on the brand so he could drop the title to Oba Femi:

I wasn’t going to get the opportunity to show that I was better than what they thought in that current iteration of the [Brawling] Brutes. So I thought if I could go back down to NXT as a singles guy and kind of revamp and show what I can do, then it might serve me better coming back up with a fresh coat of paint. I think it was going great, but then it was like we’d get somewhere and it’d stop for some reason, and I’d never know why.

For instance, I wrestled Trick [Williams] for the NXT Title at Deadline. I thought, personally, I had the most heat out of any heel. I thought I was doing really good work and they seemed happy with it. I thought the thing we should have done is let me have a short run with the belt, give it to a big heel. And then eventually, my pitch was to put Oba over really strong, and then obviously that would make Oba.

But it didn’t happen. I went into a feud with Tony D unsuccessfully. And then I had Ricky Starks’ first match. Then, again, I didn’t think the match was anything special. There was a couple of things that went wrong. It happens in wrestling communicatively or memory-wise, and then I think because there was a lot of eyes on that and Ricky was a new guy, I just think I was made a bit of a scapegoat. Then I got taken off TV for four to six months, and then I found myself in EVOLVE.

Holland finished up, noting that he could see the writing on the wall when he was being told there was nothing he needed to do to improve his situation:

I asked is there anything I need to work on? Is it my promos? Is it my work? And everyone was like, ‘No, no. We’ve just got nothing. All our babyfaces are taken up.’ You know when you’re getting waffled.

Ridge Holland clarified the situation regarding a crowfunder set up to help him manage his bills now that he is no longer part of WWE.