Richard Holliday is one of the top wrestlers on the independent scene and has garnered several championships across several promotions since he started his career.
Holliday was most recently the Awesome Championship Wrestling (ACW) heavyweight champion before he lost the title to Killer Kross last month. He was also ranked No. 112 in Pro Wrestling Illustrateds top 500 singles wrestlers in 2021.
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The Connecticut native opened up about his career in a recent interview with Fox News Digital.
“Richard Holliday is the top independent professional wrestler in the world today,” he said. “It goes without saying but I have no problem saying it because its true. ⦠In November 2014, Paul Roma and Mario Mancini opened a school legitimately two blocks from my house and at the time I was playing football in college, D-II football for the University of New Haven.
“I always knew I wanted to be a professional wrestler, but at that time I was transitioning out of playing football. I didnt want to play football anymore. I wanted to get into the ring. And I dont know, by divine intervention or just by chance, a school opened up two blocks from my house and it kinda felt like the universe was saying, Here you go kid, nows your time.”
Holliday said the allure of pro wrestling is what drew him into the sport. He said it gave him the opportunity to showcase all of his abilities, aside from just his athleticism.
“To me, professional wrestling is the greatest thing in the world,” he said. “Obviously, I think its the greatest form of live entertainment but I just think its above everything else. I couldnt think of any other career path where I could really sink my teeth into and have all my skill sets really be portrayed the way that I can in professional wrestling â from my creative prowess, to my athleticism, to being in front of a live audience to my marketing, my management, everything.
“Pro wrestling has taught me so much about myself. Not in terms of what you see on screen but off screen â managing my own business, being an independent wrestler, being my own boss. So, I manage everything and it takes a lot of skill and a lot of self-discipline in order to do so to make it in this industry. I couldnt picture myself doing anything else. So, just from a young age, its always what I wanted to do.”
Holiday is now billed as the “most marketable man” in pro wrestling.
He boasts thousands of followers across several social media platforms and his natural ability in front of the camera gave him the opportunity to perform in ACW.
“Im from Connecticut, and then The Now â Vik (Dalishus) and Hale (Collins) â theyre both New York guys so weve shared locker rooms up and down the road for several years,” he told Fox News Digital. “When they started this venture, I was one of the first people they reach out to. Theyre like, Hey man, what youre doing is awesome, right now, and we want you to be part of Awesome Championship Wrestling. It was very apropos.”
Holliday is set to appear at ACW Reckoning next week in Poughkeepsie, New York, against Andrade El Idolo, a star with All Elite Wrestling and the New Japan Pro-Wrestling IWGP global heavyweight champion. He said the bout is just the latest in the string of marquee matches hes been involved in.
“Really over the past year Ive had this rise on social media where a lot of my popularity has been gained through what I post on social media each and every day. Showing up everyday and having really entertaining things on the platform such as and Facebook and Twitter and TikTok â things of that nature,” Holliday said. “And, its not lost on me that I gain new fans from social media and a lot of them may not have ever seen me wrestle in person, wh
