2 hours ago
4 ARTICLE AD
Ridge Holland has worked incredibly hard to redeem himself after inadvertently injuring Big E in early 2022. Holland was, and still is, subjected to nasty criticism from fans. However, after moving down to "WWE NXT" from the main roster in 2023, Holland improved his in-ring and mic skills and has become a reliable fixture for the brand, even having a minor feud with Bubba Ray Dudley. "Busted Open Radio" host Mark Henry gave an assessment this week of Holland's progress in "NXT."
"I think the number one thing is his confidence. A lot of times in pro wrestling, if you don't believe in you, how do you expect somebody else to?" Henry pointed out. "He's found his footing. He always looked the part, but he always looked kind of like self-conscious about either how he was looking or how he was sounding."
Henry feels Holland shook that doubt and now comes off confident and is now succeeding. Henry remarked that he believes Holland resurgence came from him knowing people were commenting on him under-achieving with his potential and that it set off triggers for the former rugby player. The WWE Hall of Famer also praised Holland for how he dealt with the Big E criticism.
"He's eaten it up... The injury that Big E sustained and pointing to the fact that he injured somebody, I lived through that," Henry said recalling that he was at ringside when the D'Lo Brown-Darren Drozdov paralysis incident happened, which resulted in Brown losing his confidence. "For a while there it looked like [Holland] was mailing it in. 'Maybe this ain't for me,' and then you see the maturation process, the whole Chase U thing, it was like he got to look at himself again for the first time and he realized how you fix things."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Busted Open" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

