Richard Holliday has had some scary moments take place inside the squared circle.
One of the biggest matches in Holliday’s MLW career was a Falls Count Anywhere match against Alex Hammerstone. During the match, Holliday suffered a concussion and collapsed in the ring.
The current WTF Superstar was recently interviewed by Alicia Atout for her YouTube Channel. During the video, Holliday recalled the moment he suffered a concussion and made it a point to mention that Atout stayed with him afterward and never left his side.
“I remember that match vividly. I definitely got concussed. But it was mild,” Holliday revealed. “And it wasn’t to the point where I wasn’t able to remember everything. And I remember getting put in Gorilla Position on a mattress and laying there, and you never left my side.
“You were so awesome! And then, once we left that night, I never really had a chance to properly thank you other than over the phone or text message or anything like that. Because after that night, I went away. For however long it was, about a year.”
Richard Holliday on his Falls Count Anywhere match against Hammerstone
Holliday would go on to state that beyond his concussion, he knew something was off with him that night, which resulted in him taking time away from the ring.
“But that night in particular, I just remember being like, ‘Something’s off. Something is not right. This is not normal.’ And then, of course, I go through a freaking Falls Count Anywhere match,” Richard Holliday said. “I’m all over the building. I’m filming on the roof, I’m getting almost dumped over a barricade, I’m getting hit with a plant in the face.
“And it’s all these things that it’s like, ‘Oh my god! Could we’ve picked a worse day for me to do this Hardcore match?’ And then I’m wrestling Hammerstone. Which listen, he’s one of the absolute best in the world. But this is a big, strong man that I’m in the ring with. So, you take a powerbomb from Hammerstone. It’s just different from taking a powerbomb from somebody else. He’s a big, strong boy.
“So all these things just accumulating. So I took that Powerbomb, hit my head. And then, we had to change a couple of things. But ultimately, we got to where we needed to go. And then, I just went kind of just… I don’t want to say collapsed because that makes it sound a little too dramatic, but I definitely was just like, ‘I need to lay down.’ And you were there for me the whole time. So awesome. I can’t thank you enough for that. Just the support of you being there meant a lot to me. And I do appreciate it. I do.”
Holliday took a sabbatical from wrestling in 2022 after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Holliday completed treatment in February 2023, and was in remission that April.
During the same interview, Atout and Holliday also reflected on working everyone with their made-for-TV “Clout Couple” relationship. Read more here.
Read More: Richard Holliday Draws Inspiration From HBO’s Succession, Relates To Kendall Roy
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