Former WWE star Ridge Holland has opened up about the difficult period in his career following the injury to Big E and his eventual return to NXT.
Speaking with the Sports Jedi Network, Holland (Luke Menzies) reflected on the final months of The Brawling Brutes, admitting he felt the group had lost momentum while he struggled with the perception surrounding him after the accident involving Big E.
“We were just kind of getting beat and getting booked into oblivion, and there was no real direction. Obviously, things had happened with myself that made me feel like I needed to prove something, and I didn’t want to weigh Pete [Dunne] down with the negative image that I had.”
Holland said he ultimately decided a fresh start in NXT was the best path forward. “So I thought, ‘Look, I need to step back. I need to go and reinvent myself.’ Reinvent myself in NXT.”
He revealed that both William Regal and Triple H supported the idea. “I had a conversation with [William] Regal. I had a conversation with Triple H. He thought it would be a good idea. He said, ‘You could go away for six months and come back with a new coat of paint.’ Okay, cool.”
However, Holland claimed there were still obstacles behind the scenes after making the move.
“But then from there, it was like… I don’t want to be negative, but there was someone in the office who was very high up that didn’t like me because of things that had happened in the past. I’d been told that previously in meetings and stuff. I’d get kind of booked out of things or pushed out, and they didn’t have the greatest faith in me, let’s say.”
