Few names in pro wrestling have been talked about as much over the past year as TNA’s Joe Hendry, who has been living up to his incredibly catchy theme song and showing up at any number of places all around the world. Whether that’s TNA, WWE NXT, or Triplemania, Hendry is a sensation, even without the TNA World Championship. That doesn’t mean, however, that he’s not actively pursuing the Championship he once held, and this week’s Champions Challenge is the first step towards reclaiming TNA’s top prize and kicking off a new long-time Title reign. ComicBook had the chance to speak to Hendry all about what the future holds for him in TNA, how he’s dealt with reactions from the locker room after a difficult loss, the Spanish remix to his theme at Triplemania, and a dream scenario outside of wrestling that includes, wait for it, South Park.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Triplemania Remix
Hendry recently made an appearance at Triplemania Regia this past weekend, but he didn’t come out to the typical version of his theme song. Instead, it was a spanglish remix of the song from the immensely talented EZ Band, who had previously created the Norteño remix of Hendry’s I Believe theme. Hendry wasn’t initially aware of the remixed song, but he couldn’t have been more thrilled with how it all turned out.
“It was indeed, and it was a nice surprise for me. I didn’t know that it was going to happen, so it was actually a super nice surprise for me. It’s not often that, I usually kind of have eyes on everything that I do in terms of entrances and things like that, but that was one of the first times I can remember where you show up and someone has a cool idea, and I’m like, yeah, let’s do it, you know? So that, that was very cool. Shout out to the EZ Band for that,” Hendry said.
The hit song is just one facet of the multi-talented TNA star, as fans are used to seeing him create new songs and even perform full concerts. That’s why I was curious if Hendry ever goes back and watches some of his old promos and videos, and what his reaction is to those compared to where he is now.
“Um, it’s pretty special. Yeah, it’s, I do have a respect for the person I was when I was, you know, 24, just about to turn 25, just having the balls to just push forward and fight through all the adversity and have that belief in myself and, you know, it’s pretty awesome to look back and see the journey that I’ve been on at this point,” Hendry said.
TNA World Championship Run and What’s Next
Last week, Hendry had to address the fallout from his TNA World Championship loss to NXT’s Trick Williams, and the two stars then had to meet once again during a Champions Challenge. That hasn’t allowed Williams or the Title to drift far from Hendry’s mind, and he opened up a bit about the reactions from his peers and the locker room right after the loss and in the subsequent days since.
“Well, obviously it, it’s not something that went down too well. Obviously it’s a huge loss. TNA Wrestling, I was supposed to be the captain, and I’m the one that dropped the ball when it comes to losing the title to someone who is not under contract to TNA Wrestling, which is a very scary situation,” Hendry said.
“But I guess the wonderful thing about professional wrestling in today’s day and age is that anything can happen, so there are a number of pathways for me getting back to the Championship. So with that in mind, I think the cool thing about professional wrestling, like I say, anything can happen,” Hendry said. “So if you want to see that journey of me and of how I’m going to get myself back to that main event Title picture, that starts in Pittsburgh.”
Hendry also discussed his feelings towards his first Title run, and while it certainly brought more eyes to the company, there are some things he would love to expand upon in a second Title reign. “I think that I, you know, obviously I was not satisfied with my first Title run. I don’t really think I got the chance to truly run with the ball, but in the short time that I was Champion, I think that it brought a huge amount of eyeballs to TNA Wrestling,” Hendry said. “I think business is up. So I feel like it was not the long Title reign I wanted to have, unfortunately, but I think the metrics speak for themselves, and me being Champion was great business for TNA Wrestling, despite what anyone else wants to say about it.”
With Slammiversary around the corner, Hendry is already locked in to making that his next step towards reclaiming the TNA World Championship. “Well, in professional wrestling, absolutely anything can happen. For me, my focus is I want to get to the main event of Slammiversary. I think that’s something I’ve earned. I think that’s what’s best for business, and yeah, I just need to figure out the pathway for me to do that,” Hendry said.
Dreams and South Park
Now, I personally believe that a Joe Hendry animated series would be a golden ticket idea (thanks, Michael Scott), and you can just see an animated version of Hendry randomly popping up in different shows or on his own series of TNA web shorts. That’s what led to me asking Hendry what franchise or show he would love to see an animated Hendry appear on, and that’s when he revealed a dream outside of the ring is actually tied to working with one of the animated series greats in South Park.
“Well, actually, believe it or not, I have a couple of dream jobs. One of them is, obviously, my number one is pro wrestling. I got to pursue music to a fairly serious degree and still do, I guess, with my entrance song and recording songs, so I get to do those dream jobs,” Hendry said. “I love combat sports, so I did judo to a pretty decent level. I’ve won National Titles and Amateur Wrestling, but actually another dream that I have, and I don’t know if I’ve ever spoken about this, but is actually to write for South Park. So, yeah, that’s something I’d love to do, and now I guess maybe that might be possible. I don’t know. Like, maybe I should reach out. But yeah, I would love to. I would love to write for South Park.”
As a Cartman fan, I had to ask who the favorite South Park character was, and it was actually Butters taking the top spot. “Favorite character on South Park. That is a tough one. I think Butters is probably my favorite, my favorite character. My dog was nearly called Butters, but because of my accent, it’s like I either need to commit to Butters, like the t. If you’re in Scotland, how you pronounce it is a little tough, so it could be Butters or Butters. That’s how someone in Scotland would say it. So I just couldn’t envision myself shouting Butters at full volume in the park. So that’s why he’s called Gromit.”
You can watch Hendry in the ring every week on TNA Impact, and fans can watch TNA live today and tomorrow when TNA lands in the UPMC Events Center in Pittsburgh. TNA Slammiversary will take place next month in the UBS Arena in Belmont Park, New York, on July 20th, and you can still pick up tickets now.
What do you want to see from Hendry next, and who would you love to see him face at Slammiversary? Let us know in the comments, and you can talk all things wrestling with me on Bluesky @knightofoa!
Most Viewed
-
Image courtesy of DC Studios
