Summary

Ridge Holland says the men's WarGames match at Survivor Series 2022 was not fully mapped out until about 20 minutes before the wrestlers went through the curtain.

Speaking during an interview with Sportshadow Wrestling, Holland looked back at the match that saw The Bloodline face The Brawling Brutes, Drew McIntyre, and Kevin Owens. He said the group had to pull the layout together in a hurry, then rely on the experience in the match to make it work.

The comments come not long after Holland spoke about having no regrets over the posts that sped up his WWE exit, adding another reflective note to his recent interviews about that period of his career.

How the match was put together

Holland said the main priority was making sure the biggest moment landed when Roman Reigns entered the match. From there, he said the rest of the field was experienced enough to fill in the gaps and keep the bout moving.

Quote from Ridge Holland

"Well, it's funny because we didn't have that match put together… I think we only had that match figured out 20 minutes before we were due to go out and do the match. So it was kind of a rush to get everything put together. So I can't even remember off the top of my head what was planned, what was supposed to go where. We just kind of made it work. There was enough people in that match with enough experience that were talented enough that we just made it work. The main thing was making sure that the biggest thing [happened] when Roman came in. The things in between we managed to fill and make work."

Holland later addressed the sequence where the opposing team ran all members of The Bloodline through the Beats of Bodhran, and said Pete Dunne may have been the one who first pitched it.

"I'm not sure. I think it might have been Pete Dunne [who] might have come up with that idea. Because he's always been the one, especially in matches, that he's got such a fantastic brain for professional wrestling. If there's anything that needs figuring out or something, a little bit of magic that needs sprinkling, he's the man that generally waves that magic wand and then gets it put in. So yeah, I think obviously, there's a big Sheamus influence there. It's Sheamus' move, so we wouldn't have even thought about it if he didn't start doing that and get so much mileage out of it. But yeah, I think it was Pete, and then we got a bit of input from Sheamus too. But it worked, the crowd came, it was fantastic."

What Holland's comments say about Survivor Series 2022

Holland's description of Survivor Series 2022 gives fans a clearer explanation for why that WarGames match depended so heavily on veteran timing and familiar chemistry. With Roman Reigns, Sheamus, Kevin Owens, Drew McIntyre, Sami Zayn, The Usos, Solo Sikoa, Holland, and Dunne all involved, the match had enough experienced hands to survive a late layout and still come across like a major show centerpiece.

It also underlines how much trust WWE had in that lineup. A match that large, with that many featured names, usually carries little room for error, so the fact it still landed with the crowd says plenty about the group that was in the cage that night.

Sources

Ridge Holland while speaking on Sportshadow Wrestling