Luke Menzies

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Luke Menzies
Born (1988-05-29) 29 May 1988 (age 33)
Liversedge, West Yorkshire, England
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Luke Menzies
Ridge Holland[1]
Billed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[1]
Billed weight253 lb (115 kg)[1]
Billed fromYorkshire, England
Trained byMarty Jones[1]
DebutSeptember 30, 2017[1]
Rugby league career
Personal information
Full nameLuke Menzies
Height6 ft 1 in (185 cm)[2]
Weight251 lb (114 kg)[2]
Playing information
PositionProp
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2007 Batley Bulldogs 24 5 0 0 20
2008 Hull Kingston Rovers 2 0 0 0 0
2009 Oldham 27 3 0 0 12
2010–11 Dewsbury Rams 27 3 0 0 12
2012 Batley Bulldogs 25 0 0 0 0
2012–13 Hunslet Hawks 21 0 0 0 0
2014 Swinton Lions 24 4 0 0 16
2015 Salford Red Devils 1 0 0 0 0
2015 (loan) → York City Knights 1 0 0 0 0
2015 (loan) → Halifax 3 0 0 0 0
2017 Toronto Wolfpack 1 0 0 0 0
Total 156 15 0 0 60
Source: [3][4]

Luke Menzies (born 29 May 1988) is an English professional wrestler and former professional rugby league player.He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Ridge Holland.

He spent the majority of his rugby league career with various clubs in the Championship, making one appearance in the Super League for Hull Kingston Rovers in 2008. He began pursuing a career in professional wrestling in 2016 and signed with WWE in 2018.

Rugby league career[]

Menzies signed for Hull Kingston Rovers in September 2007, making one appearance in the Super League in 2008.[5] He later appeared for a number of lower league clubs such as Batley Bulldogs, Oldham (Heritage No. 1231), Dewsbury Rams, Hunslet, and Swinton Lions. He joined Salford Red Devils in 2014, making one appearance for the club.[6] In 2015, he joined York City Knights on loan.[7] Later that year, he joined Halifax on loan. In 2017, he joined the Toronto Wolfpack for their inaugural season.

Professional wrestling career[]

Independent circuit (2016–2018)[]

Menzies was trained to be a professional wrestler by British wrestling legend Marty Jones,[8] before making a name for himself in the North East of England for promotions like , New Generation Wrestling and .

In December 2017, Menzies made an appearance for in a losing effort against Jurn Simmons.

On April 21 of 2018, Menzies defeated El Ligero, Joseph Conners and champion Rampage Brown in a 4-Way Elimination Match to win the 3CW Championship. He ended up losing the title back to Rampage Brown a month later due to him signing a contract with WWE and relocating to Florida.

Menzies' final match on the British independent circuit took place on June 23 for , where Menzies was defeated by .

WWE[]

NXT (2018–2021)[]

In November 2016, Menzies attended a WWE tryout.[9] In May 2018, after spending a further two years on the independent circuit, it was announced that he had signed with WWE.[10] On 29 August 2018 episode of NXT, he made his televised debut in a losing effort to Keith Lee.[11] On 21 November 2019, he made his television debut for the NXT UK brand under the ring name Ridge Holland, defeating Oliver Carter.[12][13]

On 7 August 2020 episode of NXT, Holland made his first appearance for the brand since 2018, taking part in a triple threat match against Oney Lorcan and Damian Priest in which the winner would go on to NXT TakeOver XXX to compete in a ladder match for the vacant NXT North American Championship, which Priest won.[14] NXT General Manager William Regal later announced that Dexter Lumis had pulled out of the ladder match at NXT TakeOver XXX due to an ankle injury, and since Holland was not pinned or submitted in his qualifying match as a result of Lorcan being pinned, he was given the chance to face Johnny Gargano on the August 19 episode of NXT with the winner being added to the ladder match; he lost due to interference from Gargano's wife Candice LeRae.[15] At NXT TakeOver 31, after the main event of Kyle O'Reilly against Finn Bálor for the NXT Championship, he appeared at ringside carrying O'Reilly's unconscious Undisputed Era teammate Adam Cole over his shoulders, having apparently attacked Cole; he then dropped Cole over the barricade in front of Bálor and O'Reilly before leaving, establishing himself as a heel. On 7 October episode of NXT, Holland brawled with Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch after defeating Burch in a match. As he caught Lorcan leaping over the top rope to deliver a cross-body, Holland's legs gave out from under him, and he had to be stretchered out of the arena, reportedly suffering an ankle dislocation and fracture in his left leg and a knee patellar dislocation and patellar tendon rupture in his right leg.[16][17]

After a nine-month absence due to injury, Holland returned on 27 July 2021 episode of NXT, assisting Oney Lorcan and Pete Dunne in defeating Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher and subsequently beat both men down post match, teasing an alliance between the three.[18] On 7 September episode of NXT, Holland and Dunne attacked Lorcan and Danny Burch, ending their alliance.[19] On 12 October episode of NXT, Holland wrestled his final match on NXT, teaming with Dunne in a loss to Kyle O'Reilly and Von Wagner.[20]

SmackDown and Sheamus' protégé (2021–present)[]

As part of 2021 Draft, Holland was drafted to the SmackDown brand.[21][22] On 5 November episode of SmackDown, during a backstage interview, Holland referred to Sheamus as his idol.[23] On 19 November episode of SmackDown, Holland helped Sheamus defeat Cesaro, Ricochet, and Jinder Mahal in a four-way match, starting an alliance between the two.[24] Holland made his in-ring debut the following week on SmackDown, where he lost to Cesaro.[25]

On 1 January 2022 at WWE Day 1, Holland would team with Sheamus to defeat Cesaro and Ricochet, however, during the match, Holland would suffer a broken nose and would be removed mid-match. On 29 January at Royal Rumble, Holland participated in his first Royal Rumble match as the fifth entrant, lasting 19 minutes before being eliminated by AJ Styles.

Championships and accomplishments[]

  • 3 Count Wrestling
    • 3CW Championship (1 time)

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e "Cagematch profile".
  2. ^ a b "Luke Menzies Salford Red Devils". www.superleague.co.uk. Rugby Football League. 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  3. ^ RLP
  4. ^ loverugbyleague.com
  5. ^ Mills and Menzies join Hull KR[dead link]
  6. ^ "Salford Red Devils: Matt Groat and Luke Menzies join for 2015". BBC Sport. 2 September 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  7. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 July 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ^ EX SALFORD RED DEVILS PLAYER TURNS PRO WRESTLER
  9. ^ WWE: Rugby league star Luke Menzies handed try-out in Scotland
  10. ^ Luke Menzies & Daniel Vidot sign with WWE
  11. ^ "NXT results, live blog (Aug. 29, 2018): Undisputed ERA vs. Ricochet & Pete Dunne". Cageside Seats. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  12. ^ "WWE NXT UK #69". Cageside Seats.
  13. ^ "NXT UK results, Jan. 30, 2020: Mastiff comes in conflict with WALTER as Imperium emerge victorious in a Six-Man Tag Team main event". WWE. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  14. ^ "Damian Priest vs. Oney Lorcan vs. Ridge Holland: WWE NXT, Aug. 5, 2020 - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  15. ^ "WWE NXT RESULTS – AUGUST 5TH, 2020". 5 August 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  16. ^ Casey, Connor. "WWE Confirms Ridge Holland's Injuries After Freak Accident on NXT". Comic Book. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  17. ^ Banerjee, Anirban. "After Finn Balor, Adam Cole, and Kyle O'Reilly, Ridge Holland now possibly seriously injured on WWE NXT". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  18. ^ Moore, John (27 July 2021). "7/27 NXT TV results: Moore's review of Adam Cole vs. Bronson Reed, Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher vs. Pete Dunne and Oney Lorcan, Carmelo Hayes vs. Josh Briggs in an NXT Breakout Tournament match, Franky Monet and Jessi Kamea vs. Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  19. ^ "WWE NXT results, Sept 7, 2021: MSK raise the titles, while Dunne & Holland break ties with Burch & Lorcan". 7 September 2021.
  20. ^ "WWE NXT results, Oct. 12, 2021: Melo doesn't miss with shocking NXT North American Title cash in". 12 October 2021.
  21. ^ "See all the results from the 2021 Draft".
  22. ^ Powell, Jason (4 October 2021). "10/4 WWE Raw Results: Powell's live review of the WWE Draft night two, Goldberg returns, the build to WWE Crown Jewel continues". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  23. ^ "Ridge Holland can't wait to meet Sheamus: SmackDown, Nov. 5, 2021". 20 November 2021.
  24. ^ Powell, Jason (19 November 2021). "11/19 WWE Friday Night Smackdown results: Powell's review of Sasha Banks vs. Shotzi, Sheamus vs. Ricochet vs. Cesaro vs. Jinder Mahal in a four-way for the final spot on Team Smackdown, Roman Reigns takes his seat on the throne, the final push for Survivor Series". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  25. ^ "WWE SmackDown results Nov. 26, 2021: Zayn wins Black Friday Battle Royal for an opportunity at Reigns, Lesnar's suspension lifted!". 26 November 2021.

External links[]

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