Major Update On Ridge Holland's WWE Status

Last night's NXT saw Ridge Holland announce he's stepping away from the ring "indefinitely".

by Andrew Pollard
NXT Ridge Holland
WWE

For those who may have missed last night's episode of NXT, this most recent outing for WWE's developmental brand saw Ridge Holland announce he'll be stepping away from in-ring competition "indefinitely".

In a follow-up to this, Holland's profile has been moved to the Alumni section of WWE.com's roster page, where he can be found sandwiched between Riddick Moss and Rip Fowler.

As Ridge stated in his announcement, he was doing this for the mental wellbeing of himself and his family, and he thanked NXT for giving him the opportunity to return to the brand following his Brawling Brutes run on SmackDown.

Advertisement

For those thinking Ridge Holland was calling time on his career, that's not the case.

As per Fightful Select, this is all merely part of a storyline for Ridge Holland rather than an actual retirement. Holland is said to have been "motivated" to do this story, with it part of the powerhouse's ongoing crisis of confidence after the real-life injury of Big E and the kayfabe injury of Ilja Dragunov - two injuries Ridge received plenty of fan backlash for.

Advertisement
 
Posted On: 
Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.