Santa Claus may be exceptionally busy this time of year, but Kris Kringle still managed to make an appearance on the latest episode of WWE NXT. During the December 24 show, the Christmas Chaos fatal four-way tag match featured Hank Walker and Tank Ledger, the No Quarter Catch Crew’s Tavion Heights and Myles Borne, The D’Angelo Family’s Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo and Luca Crusifino, and OTM’s Bronco Nima and Lucien Price.

The action-packed match saw all four teams vying for control. Hank and Tank were eliminated from the equation after interference from Tyson Dupont and Tyriek Igwe. As victory seemed within reach for The D’Angelo Family, a surprise appearance by “Santa Claus” interrupted matters. This not-so-jolly Saint Nick attacked Tony D’Angelo, distracting his allies and creating an opening for OTM. Bronco Nima and Lucien Price capitalized on the chaos, securing the win.

Santa was later unmasked to reveal Ridge Holland, who appears to have his sights set on the NXT North American Championship. Meanwhile, OTM’s win positions them as the next challengers for the NXT Tag Team Champions, Fraxiom. Nathan Frazer and Axiom, currently in their second reign, have held the titles since August and boast an impressive combined reign of over 230 days.

Stay tuned to SEScoops for the latest from WWE NXT and what awaits Fraxiom now that new challengers have been crowned.

WWE NXT Champion Trick Williams has promised payback for Chase U ahead of tonight’s Deadline showdown with Ridge Holland. On the latest episode of WWE NXT, Holland attacked Williams in an assault that left the status of their title match ‘up in the air.’

Learn More About Ridge Holland’s Assault on the WWE NXT Champion

On X, Williams shared a video, confirming that he’s been released from the hospital and has been cleared to compete against Holland tonight at WWE NXT Deadline. Holland admitted that Ridge got the best of him on Tuesday but said that there’s no way he’d take the NXT Championship.

“I’m doing this for Chase U. I’m doing this for NXT. And I’m doing this for me.”

Holland earned a shot at Williams last month with a win over Andre Chase. As per the match stipulation, this marked the end of Chase U, much to the dismay of fans of the popular, now-defunct faction. Holland has relished in ending the group, even arriving at the following week’s episode of WWE NXT to the group’s music and entrance.

WWE NXT Deadline will take place tonight, December 7, from the Minneapolis Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The show will feature two Iron Survivor Challenges, as well as the return of the NXT Underground match.

WWE NXT Iron Survivor Match Rules Explained

Stay tuned to SEScoops for the latest from NXT Deadline, including live results and breaking news from tonight’s exciting event.

NXT faction Chase U has been forced to disband after Ridge Holland won the high-stakes main event match against Andre Chase at the November 19 episode of the show.

The latest episode of the Black & Silver show featured the two NXT stars battling for a shot at Trick Williams’ NXT Championship in the main event. The stakes were higher for Chase as he was also putting the future of his group on the line.

Holland grabbed a chair at one point in the match but the referee stopped him from using it on Andre. As the referee was busy disposing of the chair, however, Ridge delivered a low blow to Chase and connected with a Cradle DDT.

As the former The Brawling Brutes member went for the pin, Duke Hudson and Thea Hail appeared at the ringside. Hudson pulled the referee from the ring. He then looked to send Holland crashing through the exposed concrete floor.

Holland came back with some offense and he sent Hudson crashing through the NXT set. Riley Osborne finally came out to help his team as well but he inadvertently ended up taking Hail out while leveling Holland with a top rope splash.

Ridge Holland then took out Osborne by sending him through the concrete floor and put his focus back on Andre Chase. The ending of the bout saw Chase attempting a crossbody but Holland countered it into a cradle DDT for the pin.

The commentators confirmed that after this match, Chase U will be forced to disband while Holland will challenge Williams for the NXT title at the Deadline event.

The upcoming NXT event taking place from The Armory in Minneapolis, MN on December 7 will also feature the Men’s and Women’s Iron Survivor Challenge match.

• WWE NXT to Air Live from Lowell, MA on December 17

The latest episode of WWE NXT saw the gold brand receive a dramatic shake-up with not one but two titles changing hands on the broadcast. The show marked NXT’s return to the USA Network after two weeks of hosting its Great American Bash special on SyFy.

WWE NXT Title Changes

In our opening contest of the night, Tony D’Angelo put his Heritage Cup on the line against Charlie Dempsey. This match was secured by Wren Sinclair, who earned the opportunity for the No Quarter Catch Crew last week with a victory over Kendal Grey (a victory that also earned her a spot in the faction.)

D’Angelo got the first pinfall of the contest in round two, but Dempsey fought back. Once again, Sinclair paid dividends for the NQCC as it was her interference, knocking D’Angelo off the top role that allowed Dempsey to get the decisive third pinfall of the match.

In our main event, the NXT Tag Team Championships were on the line as Nathan Frazer and Axiom defended against Andre Chase and Ridge Holland of Chase U. In the end, it was Holland who got the win for his team after planting Axiom with Northern Grit.

Chase U rushed the ring to celebrate with Chase and Holland as confetti filled the arena. This ends the title reign of Frazer and Axiom at 126 days. This is the second reign for Chase, who previously held the gold with Duke Hudson in a reign that lasted 21 days. This is Holland’s first NXT Tag Title reign and first taste of any WWE gold since joining the promotion in 2018.

Ridge Holland announced that he’s stepping away from in-ring competition on Tuesday’s NXT television, but this is only a storyline and there are no plans for the 35-year-old grappler to legitimately retire from active competition.

Holland has faced a great deal of online backlash from fans due to his habit of inadvertently injuring his opponents. Most notably, it was Holland who dropped Big E on his head, putting him out of action for several years with a less than likely chance he’ll ever return. The former Brawling Brute was also involved when Elton Prince of Pretty Deadly sustained an injury. 

This is yet another instance of WWE turning a ‘real life’ situation and blurring the line between fact and fiction to fuel on-air angles. Fightful notes that Holland has been receptive to the angle, which is an encouraging sign, considering that Holland has let it be known that the public backlash he’s received has affected his mental health.

Ridge Holland Steps Aside

Holland delivered an emotional promo on Tuesday’s NXT and stunned the fans with his announcement. He said he’s been going through a lot lately and is concerned for the safety of not only his opponents, but himself. 

The segment ended with Holland leaving the ring and NXT Universe chanting “Thank you, Ridge.” 

In an effort to convince fans that Holland’s situation is legitimate, WWE swiftly moved his ‘Superstar Bio’ to the ‘Alumni’ section of the company website. Fans on social media noticed the change immediately. From WWE’s viewpoint, they took the bait.

WWE is currently gearing up for NXT Stand & Deliver 2024, which takes place Saturday, April 6, just hours before WrestleMania XL Saturday from Philadelphia, PA. 

WWE Superstars all see an end to their careers, whether they like it or not. Sometimes, they pull the plug themselves, and it appears that Ridge Holland might not wrestle again for a long time.

Holland took the ring during the March 26 episode of WWE NXT. He cut a personal and passionate promo, making fans wonder if this is part of the show or the real thing. In the end, Ridge Holland announced his indefinite hiatus from in-ring competition.

Holland’s Big Announcement

Ridge Holland took the microphone this week on NXT, and he spoke about a very difficult decision that he had to make. The former Brawling Brute said that he’s been going through a lot, and he cannot continue.

Holland said that he had two very difficult conversations over the past week. He spoke with his family and those who love him, and he also had a long conversation in the mirror.

He then said that out of the concern for the safety of himself and everyone he works with in the ring, he is stepping away from in-ring competition. He said this is indefinite, and nobody came out to stop him.

Fans in the NXT Arena chanted “Thank you, Ridge” as he left. Then the camera followed him through the curtain and cut to the next segment.

😔😔😔@RidgeWWE has announced he is stepping away from in-ring competition indefinitely. #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/vutKD5YVwt

— WWE (@WWE) March 27, 2024

Ridge Holland’s Hand in Superstar Injuries

Ridge Holland has been involved in a couple injuries over the past year or so. The most famous accident involved Big E, which left the New Day member with a broken neck.

Holland also had a hand in injuring Elton Prince of Pretty Deadly. NXT ran an angle where Holland injured Ilja Dragunov as well.

We will have to see if this is a work or a shoot from Ridge Holland. Right now, all we know is that fans shouldn’t expect to see him in the ring any time soon. SEScoops will have more on this story if there are any further updates.

WWE fans resisted Pete Dunne’s name change to Butch at first. That one-word name grew on people eventually, but it appears more changes are coming for the former NXT UK Champion.

Changes Coming For Butch

The Brawling Brutes stable, consisting of Sheamus, Ridge Holland, and Butch, are no more. The faction quietly broke up, as Butch made mention of that fact during a promo with Tyler Bate a couple of weeks ago.

Now, Sean Ross Sapp reports on Fightful Select that Butch is in for a presentation change. Those hints were already dropped on SmackDown. 

It was noted that, during that pre-produced vignette on Smackdown where Butch revealed that the Brawling Brutes broke up, he said he had to make a name for himself. Now, a change back to Pete Dunne is being discussed. 

Fightful has confirmed that a change back to Pete Dunne has long been discussed, with one source in WWE telling Corey Brennan “it’s exactly what it looks like.”

Backstage Reaction To Butch’s Initial Name Change

The report further noted that when “Butch’s name was changed from Dunne, it got some of the heaviest pushback in recent WWE memory.”  Fans did not love the name change at first, either.

One source reportedly brought up Bushwhacker Butch as they said, “It wasn’t even that it was a bad name. The name was okay, it was fine. But there was already a Butch. An actual wrestler named Butch already in our Hall of Fame.”

WWE has changed Superstar names for one reason or another throughout the years, for any number of reasons. While Butch did have a good run on the WWE main roster, it appears that Vince McMahon change to Pete Dunne’s character may get swapped back by Triple H.

That segment with Butch and Tyler Bate also represented a big change in WWE’s production after Kevin Dunn’s exit. The company is going through many changes on several levels at this point.

UPDATE: Pete Dunne Returns

Pete Dunne returned this week on SmackDown, under that name, He received a massive pop as he came out to team with Tyler Bate. The team took on Pretty Deadly, and his change back to the Dunne name received a great reaction.

Ilja Dragunov was stretchered out during the NXT episode on December 19th, but no worries, because it’s just part of the story. Although some fans initially jumped to conclusions that Ridge Holland injured another Superstar, it seems that WWE is turning that into an angle instead. 

The scene was filmed the previous week, taking inspiration from Ridge Holland’s involvement in Big E’s injury two years ago. He also recently caused Elton Prince’s injury, costing Pretty Deadly valuable time away from the ring. While some in WWE found the idea a bit controversial, they decided to go ahead with it. 

Corey Brennan of Fightful reported last week that the incident was planned, and now there’s more information.

Fightful Select further noted that, according to NXT sources, everyone involved was happy with the performance and camera work, and producers were pleased with how the crowd reacted to the angle. 

WWE producers knew most attendees understood it was scripted, as they quickly announced the start of the next show. Cameras even followed Dragunov to the ambulance as it drove off.

The December 19th, 2023 episode of WWE NXT drew a viewership of 641,000. The P18-49 rating for the episode stood at 0.17. That wasn’t much of a drop for a pre-taped episode, so close to Christmas. 

It will be interesting to see how WWE NXT plays the rest of this angle with Ilja Dragunov and Ridge Holland. It certainly garnered a bit of attention, and a positive reception backstage.

Ridge Holland is dealing with the toxicity of social media with negative fans on the one-year anniversary of Big E’s unfortunate injury. 

On March 11, 2022, Big E suffered a broken neck when taking a belly-to-belly suplex from Holland during a tag team match on an episode of WWE SmackDown. Big E landed on his head, fracturing his C1 vertebrae and C6 vertebrae. 

Big E didn’t suffer spinal cord damage or need surgery. He wanted to wait a year before getting another check-up to see how his recovery was going. Holland did check on Big E in the hospital after the event and gave him gifts. 

The Tweet

Holland noted on Twitter that he has been getting death threats and labeled as racist by fans online:

“Death threats. Threats to my family. Lobbying for me to lose my job. Being labeled as racist. Great stuff keep ‘em coming.”

Xavier Woods saw the tweet and responded with, “Pro Wrestling is extremely dangerous. All of us involved understand that. Ridge & his family do not deserve to be treated this way. Please do not send any hate towards them. Instead use your energy to do something positive like sending love to E. Be kind. Please be kind.”

Imperium and the Brawling Brutes will look to settle the score next Saturday when the two factions meet in a Good Old Fashion Donnybrook match at WWE Extreme Rules 2022.

The no-disqualification match was confirmed on WWE.com and on social media, after weeks of the two sides feuding.

Imperium Vs. The Brawling Brutes

The two teams have been at odds for some time, with Imperium reuniting at Clash at the Castle 2022.

At the Cardiff, Wales event, GUNTHER retained the Intercontinental Championship against Sheamus in a critically-acclaimed match.

Imperium once again stood tall over the Brawling Brutes in a Six-Man Tag Team Match on the September 9, edition of SmackDown.

After Butch and Ridge Holland defeated three-other teams (including Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci) to earn a shot at The Usos, Imperium attacked them, costing them the Undisputed WWE Tag Team title match.

On the SmackDown before WWE Extreme Rules, Sheamus will once again challenge GUNTHER for the Intercontinental Championship.

Extreme Rules

The Donnybrook match is just the latest addition to a stacked WWE Extreme Rules 2022 card, which will see several stipulations.

Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair will defend her title against Bayley in a ladder match, the first singles ladder match in WWE Women’s history.

Drew McIntyre will take on Karrion Kross in a strap match, while Matt Riddle and Seth Rollins will square off inside the Fight Pit.

The Judgment Day’s Finn Balor will take on former leader Edge in an I-Quit match.

One WWE SmackDown superstar has been sidelined due to an injury.

The June 10 episode of SmackDown is ongoing. The action is being held inside the Raising Cane’s River Center in Baton Rouge, LA. Things got started with a Money in the Bank qualifier between Drew McIntyre and Sheamus.

Just before the match began, Michael Cole revealed a superstar on the blue brand has been injured.

Ridge Holland Suffers Injury

Cole announced that Ridge Holland of The Brawling Brutes suffered a knee injury and was “on the mend.” He did not appear for McIntyre vs. Sheamus. Butch was in Sheamus’ corner.

WWE did not reveal when Holland is expected to return.

It’s yet another injury for a top promotion. AEW is littered with injuries to the likes of CM Punk, Adam Cole, and Scorpio Sky. Some of those injuries are more severe than others, however.

On the WWE side of things, Cody Rhodes will be out for several months as he needed to undergo surgery after tearing his right pectoral muscle completely off the bone.

Big E has been out of action with a broken neck and time will tell if he’ll ever be able to wrestle again.

WWE veteran Randy Orton believes NXT talent don’t know how to protect each other in the ring.

The veteran is coming up on his 20th anniversary since his debut in WWE. Orton has become one of the few active veterans that have competed with the company since the early 2000s. As a veteran of the WWE locker room, Orton believes that wrestlers from NXT lack the knowledge to protect their opponents.

In an interview with Smackdown Commentator Pat McAfee, he talked about dealing with the longevity in WWE. Orton also praised Edge and felt it was refreshing to work with someone he looked to as a mentor. He then compared working with a veteran like Edge and dealing with newer wrestlers, which he feels work unsafe.

“…When Vince was on, he talked about his number one priority, above all being to protect your opponent. That’s not taught necessarily in NXT, and I know that because I’ve been in the ring with guys that came from NXT, and they don’t know what the f*ck they are doing, and it’s unfortunate,” said Orton.

Does Randy Orton Have a Point about NXT Talent?

WWE calls up talent from NXT that they believe is ready to work on the main roster. It’s unclear if WWE Chairman Vince McMahon thinks that NXT call-ups could not protect others in recent years.

While Orton shared his belief, he omitted what former NXT talent didn’t protect him in the ring. Although, Wrestling fans have seen an incidence where a former NXT talent hurts someone on the main roster.

One of the recent examples is Ridge Holland accidentally breaking Big E’s neck with a belly-to-belly suplex on the ringside floor. However, it may not be fair to blame the coaching in NXT on accidents that involved a former NXT talent. Orton also clarified that he wants to help talent have longevity in wrestling but didn’t share how he’d plan to support up-and-coming talent in NXT.

Orton will defend his Raw Tag Team Championship with Matt Riddle against Alpha Academy and The Street Profits at Wrestlemania 38: Night Two on Apr. 3.

Ridge Holland teamed with Sheamus to take on Ricochet and Cesaro on a pre-match show on the Day 1 PPV. Early in the match, Ricochet kicked Holland square in the nose while attempting an assisted 450 splash. Blood came pouring out of Holland’s nose. He quickly tagged out and was then attended to by trainers on the floor. He never returned to the match.

Despite not having a partner for the majority of the match, Sheamus picked up the victory for his team after hitting a Brogue Kick on Cesaro.

The broadcast team announced during the match that Holland had suffered a broken nose and would not return.

Real name Luke Menzies, Holland is a former professional Rugby League player. He started training for a wrestling career in 2016 and eventually signed with WWE in 2018. During the WWE Draft back in October, Holland was selected by Smackdown. He would later debut in November with Sheamus as his mentor.

The match on Day 1 was just his 4th televised match on the main roster. He was eliminated from a battle royal on the 11/26 Smackdown, he lost to Cesaro on the 11/26 Smackdown, and defeated Cesaro on the 12/17 Smackdown.

Highly touted prospect Ridge Holland made his return to WWE NXT TV on Tuesday’s episode. 

It happened when Pete Dunne and Oney Lorcan defeated Timothy Thatcher and Tommaso Ciampa as Holland caused a distraction. The heels beat down Thatcher and Ciampa after the match. 

Holland was put on the sidelines after suffering injuries on an episode of NXT last October during a match against Oney Lorcan. 

He suffered a left ankle dislocation and fracture, a patellar dislocation, and a ruptured patellar tendon. Holland underwent surgery to get this done. At the time, many people believed that he would be out for quite some time as the patellar tendon rupture alone can take anywhere from 6-12 months to heal. Thus, many people thought he would be out for a year, but that wasn’t the case. 

In June, it was reported that the NXT star had been seen daily at the WWE Performance Center to continue to rehab his leg and working towards getting cleared to return to the ring.

Next week, Holland will be in singles action against Ikemen Jiro.

NXT star Ridge Holland has checked in with an injury update and it’s not pretty.

Holland (real name Luke Menzies) has been out of action since October, when he suffered a series of injuries during a match against Oney Lorcan on NXT TV.

During a spot that saw Lorcan dive to the outside of the ring onto Holand, the former professional rugby star fractured his left ankle. He also suffered a right knee patella dislocation and patellar tendon rupture. He was hospitalized and underwent multiple operations to repair the damage.

You can see WWE’s coverage of Ridge Holland’s injuries from this October 2020 NXT Injury Report:

Ridge Holland Update

Ridge Holland posted several photos of his legs to social media on Tuesday morning. He did not provide a caption, so it’s unknown when they were taken.

The photos reveal the extent of Ridge Holland’s injuries. We wish him a full and speedy recovery.

WWE NXT Superstar Ridge Holland has made his first comments since being put out of the action due to a leg injury he suffered during the October 7 episode of NXT last month.

The heavyweight star was recently interviewed by Alex McCarthy of Talk Sport where he opened up about his injury and provided updates on his recovery.

Holland first provided some details on the damage he suffered revealing that his left leg was fractured and he dislocated his kneecap in his right leg:

“On my left leg I fractured and dislocated my ankle and then on my right leg, I dislocated the kneecap and ruptured my patella tendons. Kind of a buy one get one free on injuries! But, it’s coming on well. The WWE medical staff are top-notch and they’ve got me well on the road to recovery.”

• Also Read: Ridge Holland Seen As The ‘Next Big Thing’ By WWE Officials

When asked about a potential timeline for his recovery, Ridge Holland mentioned that it’s still early to say anything for certain but the doctors have given an initial timeline of six to nine months:

“It’s early days yet, but the doctor has said six to nine months, so I’m just taking it day-by-day and see how the knee and ankle feels.

If I look too far in the future I’ll probably take my focus on what needs to be done today. So yeah, we’ll see how it goes,”

Apart from this, Ridge Holland also spoke positively of the WWE management for taking care of him after his injury and revealed the influence William Regal has had on him.

WWE has provided an injury update on NXT Superstar Ridge Holland. In a video uploaded to its YouTube account, Matt Camp reported that Holland required surgery following an incident on this week’s NXT.

Holland has already undergone the necessary surgery and is not medically cleared to compete. He injured his ankle when he caught Oney Lorcan, who had dived to the outside.

When he caught Lorcan, Holland unfortunately dislocated and fractured his left ankle. He also suffered a right knee patella dislocation and patellar tendon rupture. The knee dislocation was reportedly put back into place while Holland was ringside. The ankle dislocation was put back in the emergency room.

Holland’s injury came after his victory over Danny Burch on this week’s episode of NXT. He continued his beatdown after the match, drawing out Burch’s tag partner, Lorcan. During their brawl, Lorcan would sling himself over the top rope, unfortunately leading to Holland’s injury.

Ridge Holland had been seemingly set for a significant push within NXT. He came out during the end of NXT TakeOver: 31 after Finn Balor successfully defeated Undisputed Era’s Kyle O’Reilly. He carried a badly beaten Adam Cole before dropping him at ringside.

The show ended with O’Reilly, Roderick Strong, and Bobby Fish all checking on the Undisputed Era leader. The stable promised payback against Holland on this week’s show. Given Holland’s injury, however, it may be some time before they get it.

WWE is always looking to figure out who might be their next big star and latest reports suggest that the company has very high hopes for a current NXT star.

This week’s episode of NXT featured another triple threat match between Damien Priest, Oney Lorcan and Ridge Holland to determine the contender for the upcoming NXT North American Championship match.

Talking about the bout, Bryan Alvarez on the latest Wrestling Observer Live made an interesting comment about Holland, mentioning that the WWE officials “think that he has the potential to be the next big thing.”

The wording of this assessment is very interesting as ‘The Next Big Thing’ catchphrase has long been associated with Brock Lesnar and it was used to promote The Beast Incarnate during his early WWE career.

• Also Read: Eric Young Says That Triple H Did Not Know About His WWE Release

Ridge Holland signed with WWE back in May 2018, and after making some appearances for the NXT brand, he was assigned to NXT UK.

The triple threat match at this week’s episode of the Black and Yellow brand was Ridge’s first appearance on the main NXT brand since his time in 2018.

Even though he lost the bout at this week’s show, this report suggests that WWE has high hopes regarding the English wrestler and it wouldn’t be a surprise if we see a lot more of him in coming future.