As was noted last week, Vince McMahon feels that now is the time to start building younger stars.
There are signs on Raw and SmackDown that he is contradicting himself because, other than Drew McIntyre, a lot of the names being pushed have been around for many years.
However, there are some names on NXT and in the developmental system that are being heralded as the next crop of Superstars that will carry WWE for years to come.
Ridge Holland wrestled last night on NXT in a Triple Threat Match against Oney Lorcan and Damian Priest. Holland was booked to show his impressive strength and he was protected, which is why Lorgan took the pin from Priest.
On Wednesday’s Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alvarez noted that Holland is being praised by people in the company because of his potential to become the “next big thing.” Long-time fans will recall that Brock Lesnar was touted as the “next big thing” in 2002 when he made his Raw debut alongside Paul Heyman.
Alvarez said, “We have a North American Title qualifying match with Damien Priest, Oney Lorcan, and Ridge Holland. By the way, I’ve had a lot of people emailing me about Ridge Holland. They think that he has the potential to be the next big thing which is, that’s saying something. So we’ll see.”
Holland, real name Luke Menzies, is a former rugby league footballer. He wrestled on the UK independent scene beginning in 2016 until he was signed by WWE in 2018.
There are others in WWE’s developmental system that are being looked at as potential big stars in a couple of years. Cal Bloom, son of former WWE star Wayne “Beau Beverly” Bloom and Brendan Vink are two other names getting high marks from people in the company.
You can see a clip of Holland in action by clicking on the video below.
h/t Ringside News for the quote.
