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Richard Holliday is 1 of nan apical wrestlers connected nan independent segment and has garnered respective championships crossed respective promotions since he started his pro wrestling career.
Holliday was astir precocious nan Awesome Championship Wrestling (ACW) heavyweight champion earlier he mislaid nan title to Killer Kross past month. He was besides classed No. 112 successful Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s apical 500 singles wrestlers successful 2021.
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The Connecticut autochthonal opened up astir his profession successful a caller question and reply pinch Fox News Digital.
"Richard Holliday is nan apical independent master wrestler successful nan world today," he said. "It goes without saying but I person nary problem saying it because it’s true. … In November 2014, Paul Roma and Mario Mancini opened a professional wrestling schoolhouse legitimately 2 blocks from my location and astatine nan clip I was playing shot successful college, D-II shot for nan University of New Haven.
Richard Holliday gives nan crowd nan business astatine an Awesome Championship Wrestling event. (Jay Vogel)
"I ever knew I wanted to beryllium a master wrestler, but astatine that clip I was transitioning retired of playing football. I didn’t want to play shot anymore. I wanted to get into nan ring. And I don’t know, by divine involution aliases conscionable by chance, a schoolhouse opened up 2 blocks from my location and it kinda felt for illustration nan beingness was saying, ‘Here you spell kid, now’s your time.’"
Holliday said nan allure of pro wrestling is what drew him into nan sport. He said it gave him nan opportunity to showcase each of his abilities, speech from conscionable his athleticism.
"To me, master wrestling is nan top point successful nan world," he said. "Obviously, I deliberation it’s nan top shape of unrecorded intermezo but I conscionable deliberation it’s supra everything else. I couldn’t deliberation of immoderate different profession way wherever I could really descend my teeth into and person each my accomplishment sets really beryllium portrayed nan measurement that I tin successful master wrestling – from my imaginative prowess, to my athleticism, to being successful beforehand of a unrecorded assemblage to my marketing, my management, everything.
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"Pro wrestling has taught maine truthful overmuch astir myself. Not successful position of what you spot connected surface but disconnected surface – managing my ain business, being an independent wrestler, being my ain boss. So, I negociate everything and it takes a batch of accomplishment and a batch of self-discipline successful bid to do truthful to make it successful this industry. I couldn’t image myself doing thing else. So, conscionable from a young age, it’s ever what I wanted to do."
Holiday is now billed arsenic nan "most marketable man" successful pro wrestling.
He boasts thousands of followers crossed respective societal media platforms and his earthy expertise successful beforehand of nan camera gave him nan opportunity to execute successful ACW.
Richard Holliday nails his force successful Awesome Championship Wrestling. (Smoothlenz photography)
"I’m from Connecticut, and past The Now – Vik (Dalishus) and Hale (Collins) – they’re some New York guys truthful we’ve shared locker rooms up and down nan roadworthy for respective years," he told Fox News Digital. "When they started this venture, I was 1 of nan first group they scope retired to. They’re like, ‘Hey man, what you’re doing is awesome, correct now, and we want you to beryllium portion of Awesome Championship Wrestling.’ It was very apropos."
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Holliday is group to look astatine ACW Reckoning adjacent week successful Poughkeepsie, New York, against Andrade El Idolo, a prima pinch All Elite Wrestling and nan New Japan Pro-Wrestling IWGP world heavyweight champion. He said nan bout is conscionable nan latest successful nan drawstring of marquee matches he’s been progressive in.
"Really complete nan past twelvemonth I’ve had this emergence connected societal media wherever a batch of my fame has been gained done what I station connected societal media each and each day. Showing up mundane and having really entertaining things connected nan level specified arsenic Instagram and Facebook and Twitter and TikTok – things of that nature," Holliday said. "And, it’s not mislaid connected maine that I summation caller fans from societal media and a batch of them whitethorn not person ever seen maine wrestle successful person, which is cool because now it allows them to beryllium like, hey, I saw this feline online and I want to spell spot him wrestle. So, I deliberation that’s benignant of nan constituent of societal media is to pull caller fans, which is great. But, ultimately, we want to get them successful nan doorway to spot nan unrecorded action.
"Now, I wrestle each weekend, but each clip I wrestle for ACW, it really seems for illustration these really big, marquee matches. I’ve wrestled nan likes of Matt Cardona, Matt Riddle, Killer Kross, Mike Santana. The matches get bigger and bigger and now I’m wrestling Andrade. So, what I really would love, and I cognize is going to happen, is if anyone were to tune into my erstwhile ACW matches, spell watch nan catalog, they’ve uploaded a batch of nan room connected YouTube aliases you tin spell connected Triller and watch these matches, is maine proving really exceptional of a master wrestler I am. How genuinely I americium 1 of nan champion astatine my craft. If you want to see maine a method wrestler, a tactical wrestler, I don’t really attraction what benignant of wrestler you want to see me. I don’t ever explanation myself, I conscionable get successful nan ringing and do what I do astatine a very precocious level.
Richard Holliday plays to nan crowd astatine an Awesome Championship Wrestling event. (Smoothlenz photography)
"So, maine and Andrade, is it a conflict of styles? I don’t know. Is it a dream match? I’m judge to immoderate people, absolutely. This is simply a monolithic lucifer to spell down astatine nan MJN Center, conscionable for illustration each Richard Holliday lucifer that ever happens astatine nan MJN Center. It is going to beryllium 1 to watch. It is going to beryllium a spectacle."
Ben Bishop, Steph De Lander, Indi Hartwell, Mance Warner and The Righteous are among those who will beryllium connected nan ACW Reckoning card.
The professionalism of ACW is what separates nan promotion from everyone else, according to Holliday.
"It is up and distant nan astir master independent master wrestling promotion that I’ve ever wrestled for and I genuinely mean that. It is TV value production," he said. "Backstage, everybody gets taken attraction of. It’s truthful awesome from nan catering, nan locker room is freely and comfortable and it’s nan astir master situation I’ve been a portion of connected nan independent scene. I almost don’t want to put them successful nan independent class because that’s really overmuch they guidelines supra everybody else."
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ACW Reckoning will return spot nan MJN Center connected May 16.
Ryan Gaydos is simply a elder editor for Fox News Digital.
