Why you should believe in TNA wrestler (and musician) Joe Hendry as he competes for TNA, WWE and NXT
Joe Hendry always believed – even when others didn’t. The TNA wrestler and viral sensation whose catchy theme song – or walk-out song – charted in the iTunes top 10 in the United States and hit No. 1 in Great Britain , knew his time would come.
It just took waiting for the right moment. That came earlier this year when Hendry, who has been wrestling for more than 10 years, finally decided to upload his theme, “I Believe in Joe Hendry,” to iTunes after it began to gain some traction on TikTok. “I always wanted to release the song,” Hendry said. “So, I did it when the song was picking up massive traction on TikTok, and I was like, ‘Now is the time to strike.’ ” He was right. On YouTube alone, his theme song has more than 4.6 million views. “I always had faith in what I was doing, and I knew that if I did it for a long enough period of time, that eventually what I was doing would reach critical mass,” Hendry said. “I've probably done 100 viral entrances to this point, and I knew one day that things would blow up and people would go looking for them.” The Express-News recently interviewed Hendry ahead of his match against Josh Alexander at TNA’s Victory Road event, which takes place Friday at the Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio. You didn’t win at NXT’s No Mercy, nor did you win the six-man match for the TNA title. Will beating Josh Alexander put you back in the title picture? Hendry: “I think that me not being in the TNA title picture would be weird, because I see myself as a representative for TNA wrestling. You've seen and I've seen incredible growth in TNA wrestling. And I've worked my way right up to the top. I feel like I'm able to represent the company and get eyes on the product, no matter what I'm doing. … The other guys in the title picture don't want me in there. Right now, I'm focusing on Josh Alexander, who is also someone who has been a huge part of TNA’s recent growth. There's a reason that Josh has been at the top of the card for a very long time. I believe, though, I've stepped up in a massive way, and I'm ready to be the face of TNA wrestling and get my opportunity at the title again.” You had WWE’s most watched video clip on X of 2024. You were the first non-WWE talent to headline a PLE . You’ve had the best-selling shirt on Pro Wrestling Tees. And you hit No. 4 on the UK Big Top 40 chart and were No. 1 on iTunes in Great Britain and No. 6 in the U.S. Which of those accomplishments most surprised you most in the past year? Hendry: “I always had faith in what I was doing, and I knew that if I did it for a long enough period of time, that eventually what I was doing would reach critical mass, because I've probably done 100 viral entrances to this point, and I knew one day that things would blow up and people would go looking for them. I just did not expect it to be this quick. I released my song because I was not satisfied with where I was . So, I knew I had to take matters into my own hands. And that is what you have to do in professional wrestling. You have to get yourself over. You have to put yourself in the position. You can't ask anybody else to do it for you. So, I released my song, and to be honest, then everything that you've described there happened and it's all surprising to me in the best possible way. I've always had an amazing fan base, but I just didn't quite expect it to blow up this this quickly and to this extent. It's been an amazing journey. I'm grateful for it, and I'm grateful for the growth that I've been able to achieve. I think what I care most about is improving as much as I can all the time. And I really, truly believe that I'm the most improved wrestler in the world in the last year.” How important is it to self-promote and how did you decided to release the song? Hendry: “I didn't know wasn't traditionally when artists released until after I'd done it. I just thought Monday was the start of the week. I thought, all right let's release it on Monday. It turns out most releases are on Friday. So, that was something that I learned, in retrospect. The reason I released it is because this year I've learned the art of timing, or I am learning the art of timing. I always wanted to release the song, so I did it when the song was picking up massive traction on TikTok, and I was like, ‘Now is the time to strike.’ Then I put myself on the billboards like at Clash of the Castle. I always wanted to put my face on a billboard but doing it when WWE was holding PLE in the country that I live that was the correct time to do it. So, everything I'm doing now is with a respect for the art of timing, and that's the difference.” Do you think your success is related to your musical ability, as much as your wrestling ability? And what is your background in music? Hendry: “The way that I'm obsessed about wrestling now, was the way that I was obsessed about music. All I did from the age of 15 to 25 before I started wrestling, was just play and write music. That's what I did full time, other than some jobs I took just give me funds to continue doing it. I was obsessed with it, like all day, every day. Like the time just disappeared. So, it's very cool that what is happening now. I originally thought I'd just completely failed at becoming a musician. Little did I know the payoff was going to come 10 years later in my wrestling career. … There's obviously a lot of things that go into having a successful song, but I can, hand-on-heart, say that I believe that that is a very well-written pop song.” Since you tried so long to be a musician and you tried so long to be a wrestler, now that the two combined to make you this popular, is it more satisfying? HENDRY: “It's very satisfying. But I guess the most satisfying part of it is the progression and learning that achieving your goals is possible. I find it difficult to even process. Sometimes you don't even realize the big things that you've achieved until they're done, and they're long gone, because you're just running so hard. Like to give you an example, for a couple of months there, I was training full time at the WWE Performance Center. … There was one week where I trained at the Performance Center full time. I had NXT and TNA tapings, and I had seven flights that week to make a bunch of signings and independent bookings. … I was just working so hard, and I just wanted to do the best job possible. But then you realize that the process is actually a much bigger part of your life than achieving the goal. So that's what I've learned. It’s about the challenge. It's about the journey. It's about the fulfillment of getting better at providing a service and realizing it is not always about what wrestling can do for you, but what you can do for wrestling. … To be honest with you, my career has picked up massively when I shifted my thinking from ‘What can wrestling do for me?’ and shifted it to, ‘How can I best deliver?’ ‘What can I do to give the best performance I can give for the audience?’ When I started prioritizing that above all else, my career just skyrocketed.” When did that kind of click for you? HENDRY: “I think it was a very gradual process, but I think the more confident and well-versed you are in what you're doing, it gives you the ability to be present in the moment. And when I watch back my performance at No Mercy, while obviously it's disappointing not to come away with the NXT Championship, I can look back at that performance and say that it's something that I'm very proud of, and it shows me the incredible progression that happened in with my time at the WWE Performance Center, training with Terry Taylor and learning from Shawn Michaels. I think that you can see that in that match, there's somebody who is just a completely different wrestler than he was the year before, or even six months before. And I think that now that experience has put me in a position where I can go hold for hold, with someone like Josh Alexander, and look at progressing toward the TNA World Championship.” How did training at WWE’s Performance Center come about? HENDRY: “Well, all wrestlers, including myself, have big egos. You have to be able to deliver performances confidently. But I have no ego when it comes to getting better. I was already putting in a lot of time with training at my own training facility in Scotland, I was training with Natalya. So, I was very much already in that mindset. But it was also Mike Bailey providing me with a lot of mentorship and guidance when it came to learning about wrestling. Eddie Edwards is someone I would talk to quite a lot as well. So, I was ready mentally to realize that actually being a great professional wrestler means being a student of the game at all times and for the duration of your career. So, I was in a space where I was ready to commit and give 100% to getting better and proving it to everybody involved. And to be honest, it's a testament to TNA and WWE both coming together to do something unprecedented that benefits everybody. It meant that I was able to develop immensely in a short period of time. It means I can give even better performances for both TNA wrestling and WWE. So, I give thanks to both TNA wrestling and WWE for getting that deal done. It was a life changing event, and it's something I'm very grateful for.” The TNA-WWE crossover started with TNA women’s champion Jordynne Grace competing in the 2024 Royal Rumble in January. Then you joined her, along with Rosemary and the Rascalz in an NXT run. What made and continues to make this crossover with NXT and TNA work? Hendry: “I think that we're in an era of wrestling where anything can happen, and I think that's what makes it so exciting to be a professional wrestling fan -- is that we are seeing events play out on a weekly basis that just would have been unthinkable even a few years ago. I think you're seeing something that benefits absolutely everybody involved. This is so much fun for the fans. And it's great for the wrestlers. It's great for TNA wrestling. And it's great for WWE, too. I think that TNA has been experiencing a lot of growth over the last couple of years. There’s been some key moments like Hard to Kill, being one of them. So, it's just it's been very exciting to see the growth of TNA organically. It's just something I am very happy to be to be a part of. Do you see more crossover in the future, like someone saying your name during the men’s Royal Rumble? Hendry: “If someone says my name, I'll be there.” WWE superstar Drew McIntyre recently commented that you were, in fact, not an overnight sensation, and that you’ve been working hard for years. Did you see that and what were thoughts on his comments? HENDRY: “Yeah, I did see. And it's something I appreciate very much. Drew is a leader and has been a positive influence for all professional wrestling for a very long time, whether it be the position that he's in now or when he helped lift up the whole independent scene. I was very lucky to work with Drew and share a locker room with Drew. So, the reason that these comments are very rewarding from, the likes of him and Kurt Angle is because I worked with Drew and Kurt Angle eight years ago, and they had high hopes for me. It took me a while, but I feel like I've delivered on the expectations of what people thought my potential could be. Getting signed to TNA wrestling was a really big moment for me in my career. And now, being a key figure in the company, and being someone who is doing big business for TNA, and someone who's bringing fans to the arena, I'm very proud to have that role. Now it's my job to try and give something back to the professional wrestling business as I continue to grow as well.” Is it surreal to go from being an extra on WWE programming to this viral sensation for TNA that doesn’t seem to be slowing down? Hendry: “My whole life is surreal. I started amateur wrestling at the age of 26 and went on to win a national title in both Greco and freestyle and then represented Scotland in the Commonwealth Games. That was just like a little side quest. There are other things in my life that have been amazing opportunities as well. I've got to go and train with Dorian Yates, who's one of the greatest bodybuilders of Mr. Olympia, winners of all time. I've just lived 100 lifetimes in one. It’s just been an incredible journey and it all feels surreal. I just want to say thank you to TNA wrestling for allowing me to pursue these amazing opportunities. It’s very cool that they've allowed me to do that. And, it's very cool for me to grow alongside the company. And hopefully we can continue achieving great things in the professional wrestling together.”
WWE PLE NXT Express-News No Mercy Jordynne Grace Rascalz Greco Joe Hendry Josh Alexander Drew Mcintyre Dorian Yates Eddie Edwards X Peacock Natalya Rosemary Kurt Angle Mike Bailey Shawn Michaels Terry Taylor Boeing Center San Antonio Victory Road Tech Port Great Britain United States UK WWE Performance Center. Performance Center Scotland Olympia NXT Championship Clash Of The Castle Royal Rumble Commonwealth Games TNA World Championship Itunes Tiktok Youtube Big Top 40 Twitter Pro Wrestling Tees I Believe Hard To Kill
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