In 2018, Richard Holliday signed with Major League Wrestling and, over a four-year period, became one of the promotion’s top stars. Sadly, after making it into the MLW World Title picture, Holliday was diagnosed with stage four Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and had to remove himself from pro wrestling to battle cancer. During his battle, his MLW allowed his contract to expire rather than extend it due to illness, making Holliday a free agent now that he is, fortunately, in remission.
The most marketable man in pro wrestling has begun breathing rarified air on the independent scene, including a GCW World Title match against Blake Christian last month. As Holliday finds his footing in the ring, speculation has run wild in regard to his future in the business. In a Haus of Wrestling exclusive interview, I asked Holliday about fan interest in his next moves.
“There’s speculation here, there’s speculation they’re, I’m not in the boardrooms,” he said. “My job is to just showcase myself in the best light possible and, and let people know that I’m not only a consummate professional, but what they get on the other side of the screen is going to be well worth it and worth the investment. So, I’m sure there are boardrooms out there that are penciling my name and underlining it and highlighting it, and that’s great. You know? And that’s just because of what I’m doing on the outside.”
Since Holliday brought up the speculation around his future and possible interest from major promotions, I asked him about the report from Fightful that he was backstage at a recent AEW Collision taping and more general speculation that WWE could be interested in him as well. It is worth noting that while in MLW, Holliday, and the former MLW World Heavyweight Champion, Hammerstone, were part of the faction The Dynasty, alongside current AEW World Champion, MJF.
“I think speculation is one of the funnest things about wrestling, and the speculation, I’m serious,” he responded with a laugh. “I think the speculation that surrounds wrestling is large, right? That’s a big part of the business is, like I said before, ‘I want Richard here, I want Richard there.’ I think that fans are always going to do that, and they’re always going to have fun fantasy booking. That’s their thing, especially on Twitter. So I see it all, and it’s exciting to see, and listen, I’m just happy that fans, they want to see me in a certain light, and that’s ultimately all I can ask for.”
My full conversation with Richard Holliday is now available on the Haus of Wrestling YouTube channel and podcast feed.
If you use any quotes from this article, please give a h/t to Haus of Wrestling for the transcription and link back