The March 26th edition of NXT witnessed Ridge Holland announce his retirement from in-ring competition. In a promo on the developmental brand, Holland mentioned walking away from in-ring competition was in the best interest of his mental health and family life.
Holland had joined WWE in 2018, and and spent three years in NXT. In 2021, the 35-year-old was drafted to WWE SmackDown, where he formed an alliance with Sheamus and Pete Dunne, subsequently forming The Brawling Brutes. In late 2022, Sheamus had discussed how it was to work with Holland.
“Ridge came up first. I had a very similar look, I was doing the kind of, you know, the gimmick, the Sheamey character, you know. And Ridge had the Peaky Blinders look and it just, you know, it just fit for both of us. And he was put under my wing. So, my job is to make him as good as possible and help him get his feet wet as quick as possible, you know, find himself comfortable. And mentoring, for me it’s an incredible honor. A huge responsibility, but also incredible honor for me to do that, to help the younger talent," said Sheamus. [H/T - 411Mania]
Since his match against Big E in which the latter suffered a neck injury, Ridge Holland had received plenty of backlash. Given he has seemingly retired from in-ring competition now, it will be interesting to see if Holland works with WWE in a backstage role at some point.
Sheamus had also defended Ridge Holland from allegations of being an unsafe worker
Apart from the incident with Big E, Ridge Holland was involved in an altercation with Pretty Deadly which led to Elton Prince picking up a shoulder injury. This incident led to further backlash as many members of the WWE Universe claimed Hollnad was an unsafe worker.
The one man who defended the 35-year-old during this period was Sheamus. During a conversation with the Metro, The Celtic Warrior mentioned Ridge Holland is an incredible athlete. He further added Holland is smooth in the ring, and the incidents that happened were unfortunate.
"I think Ridge got put in a situation or tarnished a little bit, people were saying he was dangerous and stuff. Ridge is an incredible athlete, he’s smooth as h*ll in the ring, and what happened was very unfortunate, but I just feel like he hasn’t been given a proper opportunity to show what he can do," said Sheamus.
Based on his words, it's rather clear that Sheamus did like Ridge Holland and seemed to appreciate his in-ring work. However, it now seems that when The Celtic Warrior makes his return to the Stamford-based promotion, he won't have his former stablemate by his side any longer.
