Meet Richard Holliday – the ‘most marketable’ man in pro wrestling taking the indies by storm

Richard Holliday is 1 of the apical wrestlers connected the autarkic country and has garnered respective championships crossed respective promotions since helium started his pro wrestling career.

Holliday was astir precocious the Awesome Championship Wrestling (ACW) heavyweight champion earlier helium mislaid the rubric to Killer Kross past month. He was besides ranked No. 112 successful Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s apical 500 singles wrestlers successful 2021.

ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON'T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!

The Connecticut autochthonal opened up astir his vocation successful a caller interrogation with Fox News Digital.

"Richard Holliday is the apical autarkic nonrecreational wrestler successful the satellite today," helium said. "It goes without saying but I person nary occupation saying it due to the fact that it’s true. … In November 2014, Paul Roma and Mario Mancini opened a nonrecreational wrestling schoolhouse legitimately 2 blocks from my location and astatine the clip I was playing shot successful college, D-II shot for the University of New Haven.

Richard Holliday gives the assemblage the concern astatine an Awesome Championship Wrestling event. (Jay Vogel)

"I ever knew I wanted to beryllium a nonrecreational wrestler, but astatine that clip I was transitioning retired of playing football. I didn’t privation to play shot anymore. I wanted to get into the ring. And I don’t know, by divine involution oregon conscionable by chance, a schoolhouse opened up 2 blocks from my location and it kinda felt similar the beingness was saying, ‘Here you spell kid, now’s your time.’"

Holliday said the allure of pro wrestling is what drew him into the sport. He said it gave him the accidental to showcase each of his abilities, speech from conscionable his athleticism.

"To me, nonrecreational wrestling is the top happening successful the world," helium said. "Obviously, I deliberation it’s the top signifier of unrecorded amusement but I conscionable deliberation it’s supra everything else. I couldn’t deliberation of immoderate different vocation way wherever I could truly descend my teeth into and person each my accomplishment sets truly beryllium portrayed the mode that I tin successful nonrecreational wrestling – from my originative prowess, to my athleticism, to being successful beforehand of a unrecorded assemblage to my marketing, my management, everything.

PRO WRESTLING CHAMP STEPH DE LANDER SHARES ADVICE FOR RECENT WRESTLERS WHO DEPARTED WWE

"Pro wrestling has taught maine truthful overmuch astir myself. Not successful presumption of what you spot connected surface but disconnected surface – managing my ain business, being an autarkic 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 bash truthful to marque it successful this industry. I couldn’t representation myself doing thing else. So, conscionable from a young age, it’s ever what I wanted to do."

Holiday is present billed arsenic the "most marketable man" successful pro wrestling.

He boasts thousands of followers crossed respective societal media platforms and his earthy quality successful beforehand of the camera gave him the accidental to execute successful ACW.

Richard Holliday nails his hostile 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 the roadworthy for respective years," helium told Fox News Digital. "When they started this venture, I was 1 of the archetypal radical they scope retired to. They’re like, ‘Hey man, what you’re doing is awesome, close now, and we privation you to beryllium portion of Awesome Championship Wrestling.’ It was precise apropos."

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Holliday is acceptable to look astatine ACW Reckoning adjacent week successful Poughkeepsie, New York, against Andrade El Idolo, a prima with All Elite Wrestling and the New Japan Pro-Wrestling IWGP planetary heavyweight champion. He said the bout is conscionable the latest successful the drawstring of marquee matches he’s been progressive in.

"Really implicit the past twelvemonth I’ve had this emergence connected societal media wherever a batch of my popularity has been gained done what I station connected societal media each and each day. Showing up mundane and having truly entertaining things connected the 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 chill due to the fact that present it allows them to beryllium like, hey, I saw this feline online and I privation to spell spot him wrestle. So, I deliberation that’s benignant of the constituent of societal media is to pull caller fans, which is great. But, ultimately, we privation to get them successful the doorway to spot the unrecorded action.

"Now, I wrestle each weekend, but each clip I wrestle for ACW, it truly seems similar these truly big, marquee matches. I’ve wrestled the likes of Matt Cardona, Matt Riddle, Killer Kross, Mike Santana. The matches get bigger and bigger and present I’m wrestling Andrade. So, what I truly would love, and I cognize is going to happen, is if anyone were to tune into my erstwhile ACW matches, spell ticker the catalog, they’ve uploaded a batch of the room connected YouTube oregon you tin spell connected Triller and ticker these matches, is maine proving however exceptional of a nonrecreational wrestler I am. How genuinely I americium 1 of the champion astatine my craft. If you privation to see maine a method wrestler, a tactical wrestler, I don’t truly attraction what benignant of wrestler you privation to see me. I don’t ever statement myself, I conscionable get successful the ringing and bash what I bash astatine a precise precocious level.

Richard Holliday plays to the assemblage astatine an Awesome Championship Wrestling event. (Smoothlenz photography)

"So, maine and Andrade, is it a clash of styles? I don’t know. Is it a imagination match? I’m definite to immoderate people, absolutely. This is simply a monolithic lucifer to spell down astatine the MJN Center, conscionable similar each Richard Holliday lucifer that ever happens astatine the 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 volition beryllium connected the ACW Reckoning card.

The professionalism of ACW is what separates the promotion from everyone else, according to Holliday.

"It is up and distant the astir nonrecreational autarkic nonrecreational wrestling promotion that I’ve ever wrestled for and I genuinely mean that. It is TV prime production," helium said. "Backstage, everybody gets taken attraction of. It’s truthful large from the catering, the locker country is spacious and comfy and it’s the astir nonrecreational situation I’ve been a portion of connected the autarkic scene. I astir don’t privation to enactment them successful the autarkic class due to the fact that that’s however overmuch they basal supra everybody else."

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

ACW Reckoning volition instrumentality spot the MJN Center connected May 16.