Ridge Holland has opened up about his second run in WWE NXT, claiming that management was not honest with him about why he was gradually removed from television before being moved to the Evolve brand.
Speaking with F4Wonline, Holland explained that his absence from NXT programming came suddenly after a loss to Ricky Saints in 2025. Despite trying to get answers, he was told everything was fine, something he now strongly disputes.
Ridge Holland Says WWE Misled Him
“I just got dropped off TV after, after I lost to Ricky Saints, actually. I just got dropped off TV, and then the next thing was like, ‘Oh, four months later you’re going to Evolve.’ And I kinda knew the writing was on the wall then. I asked if there was anything that I could’ve worked on. Is it my work, my promos? What is it? They said, ‘No, everything’s cool.’ Which is a lie, you know. Obviously, they took me off TV for a reason. So frustrating, but I took the jump to Evolve as another opportunity to kinda rebrand myself, trying to take the positive out of a negative.”
Holland pointed to a key moment involving Ilja Dragunov as a turning point in his NXT run. The angle, which portrayed a brutal injury, gained strong traction online but reportedly led to internal concerns.
“When the Ilja [Dragunov] thing happened, it got a great reaction. You know, it was all over social media and everything, and then I got the word that the higher-ups said it was too close to the bone, so they had to call me off. That’s what it felt like for my whole NXT run. I would get hot and then something would happen. I’d get hot, and something would happen.”
He also stated that he believed he was performing at a high level during his feud buildup with Chase U, describing himself as one of the top heels on the show at the time.
“But I thought I was probably the best heel on the show leading up to the Chase U thing. I thought I was getting great heat, great reactions. There was never a silent moment in the crowd, and it was weird.”
Holland further revealed that his “dangerous” in-ring persona was his own idea, inspired in part by fan perception following the Big E incident. The long-term goal was to evolve that into a redemption arc.
“It was my idea to kind of run with the dangerous kinda, always injuring people. So that was my thing. I always wanted to come back, and the arc was to try a redemption arc. So I was always trying to do good, but things kept going wrong. And then the heel turn came. It’s when I started to realize, ‘Well, maybe I’m good at it. This is what I should do. Maybe I should be hurting people.’”
He also reflected on his earlier main roster run, where he was aligned with Sheamus, saying it limited his growth.
“It was tough just trying to kinda find myself again as a performer because I really was, on the main roster, being kinda like a Sheamus’ lackey. I never really got to find that area of character development and wrestle like how I wanted to wrestle or be given the time to develop.”
WWE chose not to renew his contract, which officially expired on November 14, 2025.
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