We recently learned that WWE has decided not to renew Ridge Holland's contract. However, after he repeatedly took to social media to blame the company for his being in a position where he can no longer pay his mortgage, Holland's contract was terminated early.
In addition to being trapped in a 90-day non-compete, Holland is injured, leaving him with no means to make ends meet. WWE is paying for his rehab and medical costs, but, unable to earn a living, the former WWE Superstar is understandably concerned about his future.
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.
In a new interview, Holland—who now goes by Luke Menzies—broke his silence on the circumstances surrounding his WWE departure.
"I just want to say for the record that, like, I’m never going to go out there and bash WWE. I love my time there," he started. "I had a great time. Met some great people, and I’m grateful for my time there, the opportunities that they gave me."
"The most recent thing was definitely down to my outburst on Twitter," Holland said, referring to the comments he made about his financial situation. "So I’ve got to take responsibility for that, like I just needed to vent, and I didn’t go about it the right way. And we all signed the contract. Unfortunately, there was a termination clause, and I breached that. So that’s a responsibility that I have to take."
"I let my emotions get the best of me, and I just felt that like I had some bad news that day regarding the situation," he continued. "And yeah, I was embarrassed that I let my emotions get the better of me, and unfortunately, I got my wrist slap for it. So as much as people want to point the finger at WWE...you probably want to point the other three fingers at myself. Really, it was just a lapse in judgment."
Many have questioned how Holland could go from earning six figures to suddenly being in a position where he's unable to pay his bills. Still, a GoFundMe was set up by a fan, though it's only managed to raise $9,908 out of a $60,000 goal since being launched earlier this week.
Elsewhere in the interview, Holland addressed being responsible for ending Big E's in-ring career during an in-ring incident in 2022. "I think my career, unless something substantial happens, I think that regardless of what I’ve done, I’ll always be the guy that ended his career, and that’s something I’ll just have to live with," he stated.
Expressing his regret over what happened, the former WWE Superstar revealed that he still gets "hate" and "death threats" online, and believes that it became the main reason fans didn't connect with him. He also feels the incident had a major impact on his career, impacting how the Brawling Brutes were booked.
You can check out the full interview with Holland in the player below.