MLW has nailed down an anchor of their brand long-term.
Richard Holliday was announced as signing a new multi-year contract with MLW recently, after a year-plus of success there. While he's sometimes been a thorn in MLW's side on the screen, he was quick to tell Fightful.com that he was happy to stay there, and MLW was very happy to have him.
"The topic of my contract did come up, and it's something they wanted to get done. They wanted to sign me obviously. They see the money in me, the investment and what I bring to the table. If I were the business owner, I'd make it my agenda to sign me as well. Why did I sign with MLW? I took a look at the industry as a whole and where it'll be in five years, and I felt like Major League Wrestling was the best platform for me to stay with, so I did extend my contract. It is a mutually beneficial agreement, I will say that. There's so much room for expansion, and I feel like I'm going to be the one guiding that ship," said Holliday.
If you think Holliday stands out, you're not alone. At 6'3", 237 pounds, he towers above many outside the auspices in WWE. While he did his due diligences and looked outside of MLW, don't tell him he has "the WWE look," because he'll challenge you on what that actually means.
"This is a business and I'm a businessman," Holliday said of his negotiations. "A smart businessman doesn't make decisions off of rash emotion, you make decisions off of rationality. Of course there were negotiations and me looking in other directions, but it came down to making the smartest decision for me. People always say 'you have the WWE look.' What does that mean? I think I know what that means. What about the Major League Wrestling look? I think I have the Major League Wrestling look, and if I have WWE's look, I think you'd agree with that. Consumers say so many different things. I should be here, I wish you were there, you should follow this guy there. It's fun in a sense, but why don't you just watch MLW and see me there?"
MLW can be seen just about everywhere at this point. Youtube, BeINSports, and now DAZN. Holliday looks at those platforms as an opportunity for both himself and MLW to grow, and one to be responsible for the other. He's heard of If you want to see him, watch him on MLW.
"Major League Wrestling is what it says -- Major. It's a major platform in North America and globally. Look at all the distributions MLW has provided for us. So many different countries outside of America have the opportunity to watch us. It's internationally known, and in the states wrestling has evolved. There are just WWE consumers, then there are consumers of the industry who watch whatever you can get your hands on. MLW has to be on the one hand of promotions you're going to watch. When you see Richard Holliday or Alexander Hammerstone appear on an MLW screen, the initial instinct is 'I wish they were on this platform, on WWE,' without realizing that they are watching Richard Holliday, they are watching Alexander Hammerstone on this Major League Wrestling platform. That goes over their head because they automatically want that transition to a different platform. It makes no sense to me," says Holliday.
You can see our full interview with Richard Holliday at the top of the page, and make sure you check him out on social media at this link.
