Former WWE star Luke Menzies, known to fans as Ridge Holland, recently reflected on the vastly different atmospheres between NXT under Paul “Triple H” Levesque and the WWE main roster during Vince McMahon’s leadership.
Speaking in a new interview with F4WOnline.com, Menzies discussed his time developing in NXT, revealing that he felt strongly supported by Triple H before injuries temporarily derailed his momentum.
“Yeah, I mean, it was always about opportunity, giving people opportunities. You know, you might have had to wait a little bit, but my personal experience was that everything was great. He had from what it seems and what I heard, he had big plans for me. Everything was going swimmingly, obviously, until I got, I got injured, which seems to be a kind of like a bit of a running theme in my career up until late.”
He continued by explaining how valuable that backing was early in his WWE run.
“But yeah, you know, nothing but good experiences really. You know, obviously coming in and not experiencing that type of environment before and having someone who was firmly behind you was, you know, it was a massive boost in confidence,” Holland said.
Things changed once he was moved to WWE’s main roster.
According to Menzies, Triple H’s health scare at the time meant Vince McMahon was fully overseeing creative operations, leaving him primarily dealing with McMahon, Bruce Prichard, and John Laurinaitis.
“So at that point, it was just Vince [McMahon] because Triple H had had his health scare. All my dealings on the main roster were basically with Vince, Bruce [Prichard], and John Laurinaitis. So yeah, that was an experience [laughs].”
He then described the atmosphere around McMahon as intense and high-pressure.
“Just as what you’ve probably heard from anyone else. Very intense. Obviously, he’s a crazy billionaire, you know. It’s intense. Being there and just watching him operate. I had a couple of interactions with him. And from what I can remember, that for the Brawling Brutes at least, he had some big plans, but, you know, and they kind of never really came to fruition, and I’m sure it’s just something that, you know, it happens.”
Menzies added that despite the pressure-filled environment, he personally did not have any outright negative experiences with McMahon.
“Yeah, nothing truly negative. But yeah, he was there, and it’s kind of like, ‘Oh, look, there’s Vince. There he is walking past’ and stuff, so. He’s got a bit of aura.’”
The former Brawling Brutes member also spoke candidly about the difference in workplace culture between the McMahon-led system and the environment Triple H later fostered.
“I think the main thing was that around Vince and around that kind of the systems he had in place, there was a lot of kind of like people walking on eggshells. Just from how he liked everyone to be pretty high-strung in a really competitive environment.”
He said the overall mood noticeably shifted once Triple H assumed control.
“But when Triple H took over, it was more like just relax, and you could kind of more or less just take a deep breath and be yourself. And I think everyone felt a little bit more comfortable, if that’s the right term. Just a little bit more comfortable.”
Menzies also looked back fondly on his run alongside Sheamus and Pete Dunne as part of The Brawling Brutes, while admitting he believes the faction still had untapped potential.
“It was good fun. I think we had a lot more legs than what we were to achieve. I think we had a lot more in us.”
He praised Sheamus for helping elevate the group and recalled how the trio organically connected with fans.
“But it was fun, you know, traveling down the road, and obviously, Sheamus is, you know, Hall of Fame career, you know, certified Hall of Famer. And just to get in there and obviously be reintroduced back with Pete [Dunne], it was great. We managed to get ourselves organically over as babyfaces, and with that, Sheamus had one of his most babyface runs.”
Despite memorable moments including WarGames and battles with Imperium, Menzies still feels WWE never fully capitalized on the group.
“But yeah, it just felt like they never really pulled the trigger. I mean, we wrestled a couple of times for the tag team belts. You know, we were in the War Games, the inaugural War Games on the main roster. Yeah. And then we had a really good kind of like Donnybrook match with Imperium.”
He closed by reiterating that he remains thankful for the opportunity despite believing there was more left on the table.
“But yeah, it was fun. Although I think there was a lot more that we could have done. But I was grateful for the opportunity,” Holland said.
