Ridge Holland Says He Was Told ‘They’ Didn’t Value Him, Explains Why He Took A One Year Deal In 2024

Ridge Holland was officially released by WWE at the start of November, just ahead of his contract officially expiring in mid-November. Holland was informed that his contract was not going to be renewed, but he was terminated early due to breach.

Appearing on Busted Open Radio, Holland explained why he signed a one-year deal when his contract was up in 2024 as opposed to the three-year deal that was offered.

“When I renegotiated my deal last year, I renegotiated a one year deal to bet on myself. In that negotiation, it was a 50% cut. I would challenge anyone to one day go from earning a certain amount of money to then taking a 50% pay cut for 12 months. That’s going to put your feet to the fire. The year goes on, and it doesn’t go as I wanted. Went to TNA, got hurt. A week after surgery, I got told with four weeks notice that my contract wasn’t going to be renewed. In four weeks, my money stops. I have no financial income and I can’t work for seven months. I can’t earn a living. Plus, the fact that I may have a neck fusion on top of the foot as well. They ended up terminating me because I had bad news about the house being put up for foreclosure. I went on Twitter, foolish of me, but I was full of emotion, and I said some things that I shouldn’t have, and the company viewed that as breach, so they fired me on the spot. That was a lapse in clear thinking. A lot of emotion knowing my career was coming to an end in WWE, I was just venting. Unfortunately, it was the wrong decision. They ended up terminating my contract a week before it was due to end,” he said.

Asked why there was a pay cut in his new contract, Ridge replied, “I went from main roster to NXT. I had a conversation with the head coach, they threw the number out there and I was like, ‘Why? Where did this number come from?’ They said to me point blank, ‘They,’ whoever they is, ‘don’t see the value.’ I kept asking, ‘Who is they? I would like to talk to these people in person and get their side of the story.’ When you tell someone they are not valued…it’s a contradiction because if they didn’t see value, they would have cut me right there and then. If they didn’t see the value, why offer me a three-year deal for a 50% pay cut? I said, ‘I can’t be tied in for three years at that money. I’ll bet on myself for a year and let the chips fall where they may.’ I really don’t know where the 50% came from other than they said they didn’t see the value. They lit a fire under my ass. ‘Well, I’ll prove you wrong.’ Obviously, things went the way they went. I got taken off TV. EVOLVE was an opportunity to rebrand myself. Went to TNA, had a great time, wrestled Mike (Santana), then the foot injury happened, and I got not renewed.”

Elsewhere during the interview, Ridge commented on the GoFundMe that was set up, and why he made the decision to shut it down. You can find his full comments here.

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