Fox News Sports’ Ryan Gaydos did an interview with former ACW Heavyweight Champion Richard Holliday – the ‘most marketable’ man in pro wrestling!
We are grateful to have had Ryan Gaydos, Senior Editor at Fox News Sports sit down with Richard Holliday, who made history as the inaugural- and only two-time- ACW heavyweight champion, for an interview ahead of ACW: Reckoning on May 16, 2026.
Meet Richard Holliday – the ‘most marketable’ man in pro wrestling taking the indies by storm. The former ACW heavyweight champion faces IWGP global heavyweight champion Andrade at ACW Reckoning next week
ichard Holliday is one of the top wrestlers on the independent scene and has garnered several championships across several promotions since he started his pro wrestling career.
Holliday was most recently the Awesome Championship Wrestling (ACW) heavyweight champion before he lost the title to Killer Kross last month. He was also ranked No. 112 in Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s top 500 singles wrestlers in 2021.
The Connecticut native opened up about his career in a recent interview with Fox News Digital.
“Richard Holliday is the top independent professional wrestler in the world today,” he said. “It goes without saying but I have no problem saying it because it’s true. … In November 2014, Paul Roma and Mario Mancini opened a professional wrestling school legitimately two blocks from my house and at the time I was playing football in college, D-II football for the University of New Haven.
“I always knew I wanted to be a professional wrestler, but at that time I was transitioning out of playing football. I didn’t want to play football anymore. I wanted to get into the ring. And I don’t know, by divine intervention or just by chance, a school opened up two blocks from my house and it kinda felt like the universe was saying, ‘Here you go 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 opportunity to showcase all of his abilities, aside from just his athleticism.
“To me, professional wrestling is the greatest thing in the world,” he said. “Obviously, I think it’s the greatest form of live entertainment but I just think it’s above everything else. I couldn’t think of any other career path where I could really sink my teeth into and have all my skill sets really be portrayed the way that I can in professional wrestling – from my creative prowess, to my athleticism, to being in front of a live audience to my marketing, my management, everything.
