WWE Not Renewing Ridge Holland's Contract

WWE have carried out releases within NXT in recent days and another talent who will soon exit the company is Ridge Holland, with the former rugby league player announcing WWE would not be renewing his contract.

Holland is currently out of action with a Lisfranc foot injury that he suffered during a match with Moose at a TNA taping in September. Holland noted in a statement that WWE will cover his rehab costs but he will no longer be paid his guaranteed wage after his contract expires.

Holland wrote:

"I've been informed that WWE will not be renewing my contract when it ends on November 14th. WWE are still going to cover my rehab from injury but my guaranteed pay will end, quite frustrating to say the least as I cannot work for another 6 months due to the aforementioned injury, with a family of 5 to support.

"My career with WWE has been blighted by misfortune but I'm still thankful and grateful for the opportunity and experience. The shining light that has always kept me going is the HUGE support from a handful of special human beings. Thank you.

"I'm unsure what lies ahead of me in terms of wrestling but going forward I will be working hard to heal up and in that time I will be launching my own online coaching business.....so stay tuned."

Ridge Holland - real name Luke Menzies - signed with WWE in 2018. He had primarily been utilised on NXT, but he had a main roster run as part of the Brawling Brutes with Sheamus and Pete Dunne between 2021 and 2023, during which he competed in the first-ever men's WarGames match on the WWE main roster in 2022. Holland will end his run in WWE as a one-time NXT Tag Team Champion with Andre Chase.

There had been speculation that Holland's release could be due to him being booked on NXT and TNA while being paid main roster money. Bryan Alvarez reported on Wrestling Observer Radio, however, that Holland was earning NXT money.

"With Ridge Holland, I know people have been saying he was making main roster money, but he wasn't. When they sent him back to NXT and he was there for years, I think, couple of years at least, he was making NXT money. He was not making main roster money anymore. So it's not like he's making some giant main roster contract. He was making NXT money and they won’t even pay that during the time that he's out with this injury," Alvarez said.

Ridge Holland's future in pro wrestling is currently up in the air, but Moose tweeted that he hopes the Steam Pig returns to TNA at some point.