Ridge Holland's WWE contract was supposed to end on November 14, but we've now learned that WWE has decided to terminate it early (originally, the plan was not to renew it; instead, Holland has effectively been fired).
As well as being trapped in a 90-day non-compete, Holland is injured, meaning he has no way to make ends meet.
WWE is paying for his rehab and medical costs, but unable to earn a living, Holland repeatedly took to social media to reveal that he's in a position where he can no longer pay his mortgage. According to multiple reports, his social media posts are said to be the reason for his being released.
Holland likely won't be able to step back into the ring for some time, if ever, as he's dealing with a Lisfranc foot injury—suffered while performing for TNA at WWE's behest—and may require neck fusion surgery somewhere down the line.
Dave Meltzer has since weighed in, explaining what WWE's position on the matter is. Apparently, Holland took a $200,000 paycut when he signed a new one-year deal last November, and the company feels that he should have adjusted his finances and been prepared for a possible release.
"He had signed a one-year renewal at a much lower rate," Meltzer explained. "The way that that went down, they were going to cut him a year ago and he kind of worked out a deal with them where he would go to NXT for one year and he would be paid less because he was in NXT than he had been paid before. So they gave him another year."
"In your deal, you’re not supposed to talk badly about the company in public. And so they felt that they now have the right to fire him," the insider continued. "It’s gonna cost him, it’ll either be one week’s pay or two weeks’ pay, because he wasn’t getting paid beyond November 14th anyway. They didn’t need to do it."
"I guess they felt that they, however you want to look at it, they wanted to send a message to everybody out there that if you say anything bad, you can be cut. And that’s what happened."
"I have been told the other side from them, which is essentially that he should have known from last year that the way everything went down, that he probably wasn’t going to be under WWE much longer either way, and he was getting paid through the end of that WWE deal. Their feeling is as well, when you know that this is happening, you should adjust your finances and everything like that," Meltzer concluded.
Since the news broke, a GoFundMe has been launched by Susan Chapman of Saint Cloud, Florida, to raise $60,000 to support Holland, his wife, and their three children. It currently sits at $8,650.