Pro Wrestling Contract Season

[Supremo]

Never rated Ridge Holland, but sacking someone whilst they’re rehabbing an injury is such a dickhead move. Very on brand for TKO in 2025.

[BomberPat]

I've tried to have a soft spot for him because he played for Hull KR, but he never did anything in wrestling that particularly did anything for me. I don't want to hold the Big E injury against him, because accidents happen, I doubt the spot was his idea, and Big E himself doesn't seem to hold it against him. 

It's not just that they sacked him while rehabbing an injury, it's that it was an injury he sustained while working on a non-WWE show, against a non-WWE wrestler, that WWE made him work essentially for free. There's a degree of responsibility there that goes beyond getting hurt on the job, for me, and highlights how absurd the whole "independent contractor" status is. 

[Snitsky's back acne]

1 hour ago, Supremo said:

Never rated Ridge Holland, but sacking someone whilst they’re rehabbing an injury is such a dickhead move. Very on brand for TKO in 2025.

Ridge looked like an absolute superstar when he first appeared in NXT.

I went to an NXTUK show in Hull in 2019 and a friend of mine worked there. She had never seen wrestling but watched parts of the show. After Ridge had made his entrance she messaged me and said "Wow who's that!?". I told her and she said "Wouldn't want to mess with him!".

 

 

[RedTwoster]

1 minute ago, Snitsky's back acne said:

Ridge looked like an absolute superstar when he first appeared in NXT.

I went to an NXTUK show in Hull in 2019 and a friend of mine worked there. She had never seen wrestling but watched parts of the show. After Ridge had made his entrance she messaged me and said "Wow who's that!?". I told her and she said "Wouldn't want to mess with him!".

 

 

I think, when people talk about Holland not being up to much, a lot of them are thinking of the version of the guy who was called up from NXT far sooner than he should have been. I’m not necessarily saying that’s the case here though, as I know there are a lot of people who will have seen his later NXT work. Whatever the case, I think he improved significantly during his final stint in NXT and I think he has every chance of doing a Big Bill/AJ Francis/Steve Maclin by going there with low expectations and shattering them.

[Callum1993]

Shitty moves from TKO isn’t surprising. He did seem to improve over the years but obviously injuring Big E is what he’ll be remembered for. It gets forgotten because of the Big E injury but he very nearly badly injured Johnny Gargano a year or so before he injured Big E 

[Hannibal Scorch]

So… what do we think about Andrade and WWE’s 1 year no compete clause causing him to be taken off television?

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

27 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

So… what do we think about Andrade and WWE’s 1 year no compete clause causing him to be taken off television?

Exactly the sort of thing I would expect WWE to do. It would have been more out of character had they waived the injury time. Andrade is a snide one for signing a new contract when he must have known he couldn't wrestle for AEW for a year. 

[garynysmon]

35 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

So… what do we think about Andrade and WWE’s 1 year no compete clause causing him to be taken off television?

Something that would be taken apart in court I'd have imagined?

[Jesse]

1 hour ago, garynysmon said:

Something that would be taken apart in court I'd have imagined?

I don't know how likely that is. No competes seem like they're a lot more enforceable in the US, at least under the current administration. The FTC were trying to ban them entirely but recently gave up their appeal. They've indicated they're still going to be aggressively against them but it's not the kind of process that moves quickly if TKO don't feel like budging.

[Infinity Land]

The basic reaction is that it's a crappy move by WWE. 

I don't think anyone knows the exact nature of his departure from WWE. Everyone assumed it wasn't the 90 day release because of him appearing on AEW TV. The follow up to that was he was fired for cause breaching the wellness policy or he was granted his release. 

Just on reported past behaviour, I wouldn't be surprised Andrade agreed to something for his release and then breached it.

If there is a termination it does seem unfair for the 1 year with no pay non-compete that has been suggested. Seems rather restrictive for someone that can be easily replaced. It's not like he's got any specialist insider knowledge that would hurt the WWE/TKO business. And for someone that may be dependent on a work visa to stay in the US. 

[hallicks]

I thought no pay non-competes were unenforceable? “We’re not paying you anymore, also you can’t get another job”? 

[RedTwoster]

Just now, hallicks said:

I thought no pay non-competes were unenforceable? “We’re not paying you anymore, also you can’t get another job”? 

I’m not going to pretend to be familiar with US contract law, but restricting someone’s ability to earn seems unenforceable. Didn’t Alberto Del Rio successfully challenge WWE on something similar? I suspect Tony Khan will fund any sort of legal challenge Andrade makes on this, and all it’ll end up doing in the end is making Andrade much more popular with the AEW-audience, giving the company more of an asset. 

[mim731]

6 hours ago, Infinity Land said:

If there is a termination it does seem unfair for the 1 year with no pay non-compete that has been suggested. Seems rather restrictive for someone that can be easily replaced. It's not like he's got any specialist insider knowledge that would hurt the WWE/TKO business. And for someone that may be dependent on a work visa to stay in the US. 

I assume the logic behind the enforceable nature of the clause is if the person was fired for cause or a contract breach, in theory a person could try and get themselves fired to be able to leave and show up somewhere else. US contract law is a bit of a minefield, also WWE are incredible petty and after AEW kicked off and made them keep Regal off TV for a year previously (as they were legally entitled to do), this is probably WWE digging their heels in because they're like that. 

The one thing I would say, is presumably Andrade signed the contract with the clause included (shitty as it is) and if he told AEW he was free and clear despite having signed said previous contract, that is either monumentally stupid, or he was chancing his arm. Or AEW knew and assumed WWE wouldn't try and enforce it, which is even sillier. The whole thing is a mess. 

[Snitsky's back acne]

Isn't is only enforceable in North America?

It's still shitty but couldn't Andrade work in Mexico and elsewhere? 

[WyattSheepMask]

On 10/18/2025 at 6:39 PM, Snitsky's back acne said:

Isn't is only enforceable in North America?

It's still shitty but couldn't Andrade work in Mexico and elsewhere? 

Mexico is in North America.

Everywhere down to The Darién Gap is classed as North America. Panama, despite being considered ‘Central America’, is the Southern most point of North America, with Colombia being in South America 

Edited October 19, 2025 by WyattSheepMask