Former WWE star Ridge Holland, also known as Luke Menzies, discussed his foot injury and other topics during an interview with TMZ’s Inside the Ring.
Holland said, “Basically, it’s like a dislocation of the mid-foot, so the ligament that holds the mid=foot together got ruptured, so what they do is they go in and put two screws in there, and the foot back together, and it’s a tedious process because there’s not a lot of blood flow that gets to that area, and it’s weight-bearing as well, so it’s probably a seven-month recovery, if everything goes well. There could be complications, so right now I’m in a boot, I just started light weight-bearing, and then my PT starts. I’ve been doing a bit of the PT at the PC, but right now it’s been outsourced to somewhere close to my home. So we can start working her early.”
On how recovery is going:
“I think I’m pushing it a bit more than what I should, or more than allowed. Obviously with three kids and a busy lifestyle and school runs to do, you can’t help but move. But the initial phase post-op I was laid up, I had to go 2-3 weeks where I was pretty immobile. We’re getting there now; it’s just nice to be a little bit more self-sufficient.”
On how soon he knew it was serious:
“I know what it feels like. I know what’s good and what’s bad and what’s able to work through, and as soon as this happened, I knew it was something a little more sinister that was going on. Then I got to the back, and, yeah, I couldn’t put any weight on it and it bloomed up, and I knew straight away that I’ve probably done something that’s serious. They were saying it was probably a strain, but I know my own body. I’ve had tons of injuries, tons of surgeries before playing rugby and in wrestling, so I knew maybe this one’s going to be a longer-term injury than what other people might have hoped.”
On how long his foot injury recovery will take:
“I’ve probably got 6 months left and I’m a quick healer, so I’ll try my damnedest. Wrestlers always want to get back as soon as we can, so I’m doing everything I can. But as soon as I found out, there’s a couple of opinions I got that said maybe 8-10 weeks, then it was like, actually, it’s more serious, you’re gonna be out 6, 7 months. I probably knew within a week of getting the injury that I was gonna be out for a substantial amount of time.”
On the neck injury he also has:
“I’ve been dealing with neck injuries for a while. It comes with the territory. I exacerbated the neck injury in the ring, and I was about to get imaging done before the foot injury happened. The neck went on the back burner. But with me being out I said I’d love to get the images of my neck and they came back and said you’re neck’s bad, you’re a good candidate for a fusion, so I’m just trying to get hooked up with a doctor here in Florida, because I don’t wat to travel, really. You obviously need to be chaperoned when you travel. Also, the less stress I can put my wife through with having to find child care and stuff like that and then go on a flight, the better.”
On the date and the circumstances under which he got to know that WWE won’t be offering him a new deal:
“I think it was like October 13th; I heard that they were not going to renew. And at that point—I just want to say, for the record, that I’m never going to go out there and bash WWE. I love my time there. I had a great time and met some great people. I’m grateful for the opportunities that they gave me. Obviously when you hear something like that, it’s disappointing, and I think what happens is you get caught up in the emotion of it. Like, I’d already signed an NXT deal, and so we’re dealing with that as well, which was substantial, and then being injured, and then knowing that I wouldn’t be able to work, it was just a lot of compounding of emotional effects.”
He continued, “I heard probably a month out when it was gonna end, so it was kind of like… The funny thing was, I’d taken my family to a complimentary stay at one of the resorts in Orlando, taken the kids there, my mum flew over, and then we got there on Friday and that’s when we got the call, so I was like, ‘Right, perfect timing.’ So that was on my mind the whole trip, the whole weekend. And it’s just kind of dealing with that news because I’d come over from England, dropped everything, sold my house, took a leap of faith to come over here, and it had been my identity. I’d thrown everything into it and not thought about anything else but making it. You never really think it’s gonna come to an end, really, and then when it does, it’s kind of a lot to take on.”
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(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
