The live entertainment business, as it has been for more than a century, is unforgiving. You’re only as good as your last performance, and when the spotlight fades, it fades quickly. Unfortunately, there are numerous examples of truly stellar talent that never got their due, financially or otherwise, during the course of their careers. The Three Stooges should’ve been paid at a level that reflected their popularity instead of Columbia Pictures using the evolving forms of media as an excuse to refuse to offer them a raise. The way that Don King robbed Mike Tyson was criminal. Countless musicians never got the fair royalties that they deserved while the record companies got the lion’s share of sales.
It’s unfair and extremely disappointing, but it’s the harsh reality of the entertainment business.
Professional wrestling is no different, and anyone that thinks otherwise simply because TKO gets traded on the stock market is fooling themselves.
Ridge Holland, who was on loan from WWE, suffered a serious leg injury when he worked a TNA TV taping at the end of September, requiring surgery to repair it. The injury is expected to sideline him for roughly six months. Recently, Holland vented on social media when he revealed that he was told that his current WWE contract wouldn’t be renewed when it expired in the middle of this month. Holland said that he was “hung out to dry” as he wouldn’t be able to work until the injury was healed and wouldn’t have the WWE contract as a safety net during that recovery time. He said that his family was in a financial crisis and that he would be unable to pay his mortgage once his contract expires. He also claimed that he might need neck fusion surgery at some point in the future. However, the company will pay for the leg surgery and the physical therapy to get him healthy again.
In response to his criticism of the organization, the WWE opted to cut him from his contract a week early. This is where the situation get murky and exponentially more complex than just the career status of Ridge Holland.
First and foremost, given that his contract was less than two months from expiring and he hadn’t signed a new deal at the time he suffered the injury, there was no guarantee that the office would’ve offered him a new deal to keep him on the roster. Typically, management ensures that talent that are a priority have a new contract in place before the existing agreement expires. No, I’m not trying to make excuses for the publicly-traded billion dollar corporation, it’s just as possible that the decision was made because they didn’t want to have to re-sign an injured wrestler, but the point being, it’s not as though the injury itself directly took away a fresh contract offer from Holland.
In fact, I would tend to believe that his deal probably wasn’t going to be renewed anyway. Let’s be honest here, Ridge Holland was a secondary performer at best, which is probably why he was assigned back to NXT after a rather undistinguished run on the main roster. Again, being completely honest, Ridge Holland’s WWE tenure will probably be most well-known for when he accidentally dropped Big E on his head, breaking his neck and ending his career.
Based on that incident alone, Holland shouldn’t be shocked about how unpredictable and unforgiving the sports entertainment industry is.
Ridge Holland was on the payroll for seven years, and given that he was recycled back to NXT, reportedly taking a pay cut in the process a few years ago, it’s easy to understand that management probably didn’t view him as a future Wrestlemania main eventer. Realistically, how many great Ridge Holland matches can you name? How about all those compelling Ridge Holland promos? I’m not trying to jab at the guy when he’s literally down with an injury, but rather to point out that this situation isn’t necessarily the heartless corporation firing a guy that’s injured just to save a few pennies in the grand scheme of things.
Where the scenario gets more complex is, what responsibility, if any, does TKO have for injured performers?
This might sound too harsh, but the bottom line is this, if the office saw money to be made with Ridge Holland, they would’ve already offered him a new deal, even with the injury, to keep him on the roster when he can return to the ring. They are still paying thousands of dollars to cover the cost of his surgery and physical therapy so a new contract wouldn’t exactly be considered overspending if they thought he was a marketable commodity for the company. Obviously, it’s terrible to get injured at any time, but more than anything, the timing of the injury and the contract expiration is probably coincidental. There was no indication that WWE brass had any major plans for him, and as harsh as it might sound, the decision not to renew his deal probably had more to do with his overall lack of progress than anything else.
However, the other side of the coin is that the man behind the performer finds himself unable to work since he’s hurt, and from what he’s posted online, he could be in danger of losing his home if he can’t pay his mortgage for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, the WWE isn’t obligated to do anything other than the legal requirements within the contracts that the talent signed, and it’s unrealistic to expect the WWE to provide a safety net for every talent that works for the company at some point. If the office didn’t see a major upside to keeping him on the roster, how long should he have still had a job? Would a six-month extension be enough until he was ready to return to the ring somewhere else? If that was the case, there would be some level of criticism that the company didn’t allow him to show his in-ring ability when he’s fully healthy. There’s just not going to be a perfect answer to a scenario where someone has to get released from the company. It’s always disappointing when wrestlers lose their jobs, but it’s a part of the industry, as it makes room for new talent to get signed. It’s absolutely terrible that a family could face a financial crisis, but hard-working people lose their jobs sometimes and there’s not an expectation for organizations in other industries to keep those workers on the payroll. When a company decides cut the number of employees, those workers are given their notice and have to look elsewhere.
That being said, it’s wonderful that the wrestling community, including some performers in the business, have donated to a Gofundme set up for Ridge Holland and his family to get them through this rough patch. Don’t get me wrong, I sincerely wish his family the best, but the point of this column is to provide some clarity on the situation. He was a secondary guy that had been on the roster for years without making significant progress so it’s possible that his run was near its ending rather than the corporation trying to save a few dollars so they decided not to renew his contract.
While I legitimately wish Ridge Holland the best in his real life, I’m not sure where he goes from here as far as a pro wrestling character. He wasn’t over with the fans, his in-ring work wasn’t anything too spectacular, and his best chance at success would’ve been in the WWE based on his look. That’s not a knock on the real-life person behind the performer, but rather strictly the chances of success of the in-ring persona going forward. I understand why the fans and his peers will rally behind him now, but that’s for his ability to make it through a tough time in real life outside of the ring, not an endorsement that he should main event the next Wrestlemania. There wouldn’t realistically be a spot for him in AEW or New Japan, and considering the potential neck surgery in the future, it might be wise for him to consider retirement from the industry.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
