We sat down with Richard Holliday to discuss his upcoming debut at Progress Wrestling – the UK’s biggest promotion – in Manchester on Valentine’s Day, his career, and why he wants his UK fans to shower him with flowers.
As a veteran of MLW, GCW and more, Richard Holliday is one of the most popular independent wrestlers in the US and will soon make his Progress Wrestling debut in the UK in a high profile match against Man Like DeReiss. Like Holliday, DeReiss is a rising star in the industry, so we asked Holliday about his thoughts on the buzz surrounding his opponent.
He said, “Well, there’s a buzz about me too. So the 14th of February, that is not his night. That’s my night, that’s my debut. That will not be spoiled, that will not be tarnished, that will be a night to remember, for me, for Progress, for everybody.”
Richard Holliday has held multiple championships across his carrer. (Image by SmoothLinesPhotography)
As a man known for his “rarified air” and his success in wrestling and other ventures like his coffee brand, we then asked Holliday what success meant to him.
“Success is kind of an evergreen term. There’s, there’s so many different ways to to look at it, in terms of how I try to approach this business is, I just want to be better today than I was yesterday, and I want to be better tomorrow than I am today. And the way my career has gone, I have done just that. My 2024 was the most successful year of my career. What does that mean? I traveled the most, I made the most money. I had the most memorable matches, my my stock increase, my buzz increase. That’s what success is, success is is continual growth.”
“You know, if you have a monster year and then you tail off, well then that’s not successful. It’s about getting better, getting bigger, having your name grow, your brand grow. The Holliday brand? It grows each and every single day. That’s why I believe I’m one of the most highly sought after talents in the world, one of the hottest free agents in the world.”
After recovering from stage 4 Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Holliday made his return to pro-wrestling in 2023. He’s since reflected on other wrestlers and athletes who’ve faced similar struggles – such as Roman Reigns, but now hopes to be an inspiration to anyone else struggling with such challenges.
“It does feel far removed now. That’s just because my life has just been so go, go, go, and I feel so great. But in past interviews, I did talk about how there were other athletes who have inspired me. I never had a conversation with them, they don’t know who I am, but I knew who they are, and I knew what they went through. I just saw them getting back to doing what they were meant to do, whether it be playing football or baseball or wrestling, whatever that is.”
“And they go on with their lives, but it is always a part of them. So that’s how I want to be, where I’m far removed from it and don’t talk about it much. But if somebody were to go look up my backstory and find that out. Well, maybe that inspires them if they’re going through something similar, and God forbid, I hope they’re not, but if they are, then they could look to me and say, well, he went through this, now he’s doing this. So yeah, there is that light at the end of the tunnel.”
Richard Holliday wants his flowers.
Since leaving MLW, Holliday has been wrestling for GCW. He had this to say about the promotion he calls home in the US:
GCW is the biggest independent professional wrestling promotion in the world. Just this past Sunday, we sold out the Hammerstein Ballroom. And of course, I was in the most marquee matchup in the steel cage, which everybody was talking about and still talking about. But GCW is doing things that nobody else can do, and we’re doing things that people say that we can’t do – like sellout the Hammerstein Ballroom. Guess what? We did it each and every weekend.
Holliday has made “Give me my flowers” his catch-phase, but it’s since taken on a life of its own with fans literally giving him flowers as wrestling events. We asked him about the inspiration behind this idea.
“I want my flowers. I want to hear how great I am now. I don’t want to hear how great I am when I’m retired or at the very back end of my career where people say, “You know what, man, he was great, we should give him his flowers now.” No. I want them now. I don’t want them when I’m dead.
“Sure, there might be other people who feel like they should get their flowers now, and that’s all well and good for them, but who put it on a t-shirt first? Therefore, it’s mine, I want my flowers because I earned them. So my message is simple, the United Kingdom is now breathing rarefied air, and I want you to give me my flowers. Show up with a bouquet of flowers, like they do here in the States, and give them to me.”
Progress Wrestling’s For The Love of Progress show takes place at Bowlers, Manchester on the February 14, 2025 – where you can see Richard Holliday in action.
