In an interview on “TMZ Inside the Ring,” Luke Menzies, formerly Ridge Holland, spoke about the 2022 in-ring incident that resulted in a career-ending neck injury for fellow wrestler Big E. Menzies stated that the incident is a constant in his life and something he believes will define his career.
“I don’t think… I think my career, unless something substantial happens, I think that regardless of what I’ve done, I’ll always be the guy that ended his career, and that’s something I’ll just have to live with,” Menzies said.
Menzies expressed his regret over the accident and confirmed it remains with him daily. “I said, you know, if I had a time machine right here, right now, the first thing that I would do is go back and change that, because there’s not a day goes by where I don’t think about it, and there’s not a day goes by where I don’t get reminded about it,” he stated. “And I’m sure that’s the same for… there’s not a day goes by where he doesn’t yearn to be back in the ring”.
He also revealed the extent of the backlash he has received from some individuals since the incident. “From the moment it happened, right up until today, I still get… hate for… it and stuff,” he said. “Yeah, it’s… it started off a lot of the time with, like, death threats and stuff and things like that. And which is… unnerving, really” .
Menzies explained that he feels the incident and the subsequent fan reaction created a “stigma” that was difficult to overcome, impeding his ability to connect with the audience. “And then just… I think that that kind of… was always a sticky point in me connecting with the fans, because Big E was so loved, and they almost took it personally,” he said. “And so it was always a sticky point for me. I would never get past it, was always there, and it was always a stigma” .
Menzies also suggested this “stigma,” combined with his in-ring style, led to a negative reputation among some fans. “I got this… reputation of being like, not being able to wrestle… because of the Big E thing, and because my style wasn’t… 1000 high spots in a match, I was more… I was like, to kind of… be more, just to grind on people and and slow things down a little bit… I got the conversation that I could I couldn’t wrestle,” Menzies stated .
He also suggested this perception may have impacted his standing within WWE. When discussing the Brawling Brutes faction and its “stop, start” nature , he stated, “I just wish that we’d have got some… continuity with the with the creative. But I also think that that, that myself might have played a part in that there might have been a trust issue there… after the E stuff, they might have thought my confidence was down, which it was. And maybe that showed… through performances. So maybe they just didn’t give me the ball because they knew that I wouldn’t be able to carry it because my mind wasn’t in it” .
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit TMZ Inside the Ring with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
