NGW Wrestler Sid Holland Discusses his Beginnings
By Zachary Daum
mascherald@heraldpubs.com
Local NGW (New Genesis Wrestling) wrestler Sid Holland is one of the major stars at NGW Wrestling, competing at every show with a high degree of performance. Holland’s recent bout on Saturday, Sept. 16, at NGW left spectators awestruck when he ventured into the bleachers, smashing his opponent CW Graves right into the midst of the audience, all while keeping his impressive winning streak intact.
Holland’s dedication to his craft and his ability to immerse fans in the world of professional wrestling is a testament to his passion. “To sum it up real quick, the reason I do what I do is to pull that person from what might be a miserable existence, out of that miserable existence for as long as I am on. Whether it’s 2 minutes or 2 hours, as long as I can pull you out of your head and out of that miserable existence to focus on this and suspend your disbelief, I’ve done my job,” Holland explained.
But for Sid Holland, wrestling isn’t just about the performance in the ring; it’s also about the journey. “Traveling; I think that’s the biggest thing I love to do. Seeing different places, being able to try different foods, and meeting new people. I have been all over the place. North Dakota is one that was pretty cool. They’ve got pheasants out there, buffalo, reservations everywhere. You get to meet a lot of diverse people. People that live kind of a more outdoor lifestyle. Down south in Georgia, I loved it. Everyone was so friendly,” he shared.
Holland’s journey into professional wrestling began with a humble start in a small town in Illinois. He recounted, “I grew up here in Illinois and I grew up very poor. When I started wrestling was when I started traveling. Up until I was 26 when I went to Georgia, I’ve only known dirt you get from your front yard (around here). When you cross into Georgia, all of a sudden everything is red. I had buddies in the car that told me, ‘It’s not dirt, it’s clay,’ and that just blew my mind that there’s such a difference in our land. Just being able to travel is what I love the most.”
Reflecting on his introduction to wrestling, Holland credited his uncle and the captivating matches he watched on television. “To tell you a little bit about how I got into the business we have to go back to when I was a kid. My uncle was really into wrestling. He would always buy the pay-per-views and my cousins would buy the VHS tapes,” he remembered. “I was watching Raw and Smackdown every week and that would pull me from my crappy existence and that would suspend me for 4 hours every week. As I got older there was that WCW invasion storyline.” The WCW Invasion storyline was a moment in 2001, where after the WWF purchased WCW, the wrestlers of WCW invaded the WWF, attempting to take control of the show. “The moment Stone Cold pulls up in that truck and gets out that pool cue and starts beating everyone down with it; I just remember that feeling of euphoria. I was in a state of nirvana. I was like, ‘Man, if only I could give that to people.’”
Holland’s journey into professional wrestling began informally, with backyard wrestling sessions as a young teenager. “A lot of people prefer not to mention that. I was 12 or 13 years old, just wrestling around with a bunch of buddies. We’d go out in fields or sometimes in parks. Later we decided it was time to actually take it seriously and get trained. I found Dynamo Pro Wrestling and they had a school, so I went there to start my training,” he shared.
Today, Sid Holland finds himself at the heart of NGW Wrestling, a promotion that he and his fellow wrestlers built from the ground up. “Today I am here with New Genesis Wrestling. It is basically a culmination of a series of events. You have a guy who started a promotion that changed hands again and again. The video library and the namesake were sold to somebody under false pretenses and there were a lot of disappointed boys and girls who worked in that locker room. We found ourselves in those ashes and decided, ‘Let’s build our own empire.’ Now we find ourselves in Mascoutah where we run our shows. We are a little over a year in and we are looking pretty strong,” Holland explained.
Holland also discussed how Mascoutah was chosen as the location for NGW’s shows. “We partnered up with a company in Mount Vernon called IWA Productions, which runs the last Saturday of every month. We consider ourselves a sister promotion, but this is almost like a child (of IWA). We looked at this area and said, ‘What do they have as far as entertainment in this area?’ Let’s bring them something. Let’s put something here that’s family valued, centered around what people care to see. You won’t go to NGW and see blood and guts. I can’t promise there will never be some blood, things happen, but you won’t see the extreme variety. We refrain from certain words, gestures, and types of matches we don’t allow here. That makes, as a whole, good family entertainment,” he emphasized.
Mascoutah, a town chosen with care, is now home to NGW Wrestling. “The entire town of Mascoutah, we are giving them an option and are looking to make this a monthly deal. If we can pull you out of whatever it is you are going through, if you are having financial difficulties, if your marriage sucks, if your kids are driving you nuts, if your parents are driving you nuts, come to us. Let us put on a show for you. Let us show you we have this brand of entertainment. Give yourselves over to us, and we are going to put our bodies on the line for you for 2 or 3 hours. Mascoutah was meticulously picked for that reason. Let’s give these people something. You can come here and have family fun. It’s clean, good fun,” Holland stated.
For those who wish to follow Sid Holland’s journey and career progression, you can find him on Facebook at facebook.com/sidhollandmbfg, on X (Formerly Twitter) @RealSidHolland and Tiktok @sidhollandmbfg. As he continues to thrill audiences in the world of professional wrestling, Sid Holland remains committed to providing an escape and a memorable experience for fans both old and new.
