What is the real story and motivation behind Ridge Holland’s ongoing situation with WWE?
Let’s find out straight from the horse’s mouth!
On Friday, November 7, recently released WWE Superstar Ridge Holland released an 11-plus minute video on his official YouTube channel (@LukeMenziesPW) detailing the entire story.
Featured below are some of the transcribed highlights of topics Holland, real name Luke Menzies, touched on during the video. Among them are his regrets over the X post he made that led to WWE terminating his remaining pay on his existing WWE contract, being released while on the sidelines due to an injury he suffered while working a match for WWE at a TNA iMPACT taping, his overall thoughts on his time in the company, as well as his reflections on being the guy who executed the suplex that led to the career-ending neck injury of Big E. back in 2022.
On regretting the post he made on X venting his frustration about how WWE handled his situation: “What I do want to hold my hand up for is that last tweet that forced the situation to get worse. That was purely out of frustration. And I’m mad at myself for doing that because [it’s] something kind of out of character for me. I don’t react that way. But I think knowing that my career with WWE was coming to an end and I never really got to show my true potential, whether that’s my fault or situational regarding injuries or things that happened [or] whatever, I felt kind of a little bit wronged. I don’t know who by, just by the whole situation. So I hold my hands up and if I had the time again I wouldn’t have posted that tweet, but I needed an outlet. I needed to vent.”
On how he is ultimately grateful overall for his experiences in WWE, which included runs on the WWE main roster, WWE NXT, WWE NXT U.K. and WWE EVOLVE: “My time at WWE was majority on a positive note. I got to wrestle at WrestleMania. I got to be around some great people. I got to travel the world. It was a hugely positive influence on my life, and I am grateful for it. I know the last 12 months has been rough. And the negative always, it always, you know, overshadows the positive. But I just want to reiterate that my time at WWE was great, and I am grateful for it. I’m grateful for the opportunity. I’m grateful for the things that I achieved. Coming from a small town in Yorkshire playing professional rugby, it’s something that no one really does. Everyone stays in their little town, in their little bubble. And I’m proud that I took the risk to break out and move my life across the world without any real plan. Yeah, I just want to make sure that everyone knows that I am super grateful for the opportunities.”
On how the one thing about his WWE run that he wishes he could take back is the suplex spot that resulted in the career-ending neck injury that Big E. suffered during a match involving the two on WWE SmackDown in March of 2022: “If I had a time machine, right here, right now, the first thing that I would do is go back and not do that spot. There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t think about what happened. There will probably not be a day that goes by where I don’t think about it. Whether I didn’t give him enough [on the suplex], whether he didn’t give me enough, things go wrong. You know, it’s not ballet. Unfortunately, it happened and I’ll always regret that spot. I’m grateful that Big E., the class of human that he is, he forgave me. And he’s been able to be so positive and move on with his life. You know, going into punditry and all the stuff he does for, like, the community with collegiate athletes and stuff, and I think he works for the [WWE] Next in Line stuff. So he’s killing it, man. He’s such a good human being, and I wish nothing but the best for him. And just for people out there who think there might have been any malice in there, there wasn’t. And if I could change it, I would in a heartbeat.”
As noted, the family of Luke Menzies (Ridge Holland) set up a GoFundMe campaign to assist with his mortgage, rent, bills and other expenses while injured and unable to work.
- RELATED: Backstage Frustration Over Handling Of Ridge Holland’s WWE Release & Injury Pay Situation
(H/T to Joseph Currier of F4WOnline.com for transcribing the above quotes.)
