When did Ridge Holland sign with WWE? Revisiting the 35-year-old's tenure with the company

On the latest episode of WWE NXT, Ridge Holland surprised fans with a massive announcement that he was stepping away from in-ring competition indefinitely. Not only this, but the Stamford-based company has also moved the 35-year-old star to the Alumni section on their official website.

Talking about Holland's career in the Stamford-based promotion, the former Brawling Brutes member signed with the company in May 2018 as Luke Menzies. Before that, he attended a WWE tryout in Scotland in November 2016. The British wrestler made his debut on July 28, 2018, live event of NXT by securing a win over Mars Wang.

Later, he made his televised NXT debut on August 29, 2018, in a losing effort to Keith Lee. After competing in multiple dark matches and house shows, on November 21, 2019, Menzies made his television debut for the NXT UK brand under the ring name Ridge Holland, defeating Oliver Carter.

After having a decent run, Holland made his return to the white and gold brand on August 7, 2020, where he participated in a Triple Threat Match against Oney Lorcan and Damian Priest, where The Judgment Day member secured victory. In the subsequent months, fans witnessed the villainous turn of Ridge Holland.

Soon after this, the 35-year-old star suffered an injury, which led to his nine-month absence from in-ring competition. Meanwhile, in the 2021 WWE Draft, Ridge Holland was drafted to SmackDown, and he later aligned with Sheamus and Butch, now known as Pete Dunne, as The Brawling Brutes.

On March 11, 2022, Ridge became the talk of the town when he teamed up with Sheamus against Big E and Kofi Kingston on the blue brand. An overhead belly-to-belly suplex from Holland to Big E resulted in The New Day member suffering a neck injury.

Moreover, when The Celtic Warrior was on a hiatus from the company, things did not work well between Ridge and Butch, which led the faction to be disbanded.

This resulted in Butch returning to his old gimmick of Pete Dunne and Holland making his return to the white and gold brand. Upon his presence on the December 19, 2023 episode of NXT, he challenged for a NXT Championship bout. However, the conclusion of this match generated a major heat for Ridge due to the kayfabe angle of Ilja Dragunov's head injury at the hands of the 35-year-old star.

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Is Ridge Holland's retirement real?

The retirement announcement from Ridge Holland has resulted in a storm on the internet as fans are curious to know whether this unexpected announcement is real or part of a storyline. Amid this, reports have stated that the retirement announcement from the British star is not completely true as it is part of a storyline.

This means that the 35-year-old star will indeed make his return to the squared circle in the forthcoming weeks or months. It will be intriguing to see how things will unfold if these reports come to fruition.