Former superstar speaking out against WWE was frowned upon by the promotion.
Ridge Holland sustained a Lisfranc injury on the September 27 taping of TNA against Moose, resulting in the match ending in a No Contest. While recovering, he announced on October 13 that WWE decided not to renew his contract upon its expiration on November 14. Although they will cover his rehabilitation, his guaranteed pay will end.
Earlier this month, Ridge released another statement stating worries about being unable to pay his mortgage, and claims he feels like WWE left him hung out to dry. Not long after this statement, it was shared that the Stamford-based promotion released Holland on November 5, days earlier than it was set to expire on the 14th.
In the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer shared that in WWE’s deal, superstars can’t talk badly about the company in public. Since Ridge did it, the promotion felt like they had to fire him, which is also a way to send a warning to the rest of the locker room.
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. It’s going to cost him. It’ll either be one week’s pay or two weeks’ pay because he wasn’t getting paid after November 14th anyway. But it’s like, they didn’t need to do it. I guess they felt that they, I mean, however you want to look at it, they wanted to send a message to everyone out there that if you say anything bad, that that you can be cut. And that’s what happened.”
Dave Meltzer: WWE Says Ridge Holland Should’ve Been Aware His Deal Wouldn’t Go For Much Longer
In the same episode, Dave Meltzer reported that those in WWE noted that Ridge Holland should’ve been aware that he wouldn’t be under a deal much longer and adjust his financials and mortgage ahead of time.
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 a WWE deal much longer either way (…) And, their feeling is as well, when you know that this is happening, you should adjust your finances and everything like that. And at the end, like I may lose my mortgage.”
It remains to be seen what is next for Ridge Holland following his recent WWE release.
Discover more from 6up.net
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.