Joe Hendry has seen a huge popularity boost over the past year thanks to his work in TNA Wrestling, songs going viral, and his appearances in NXT.
Make no mistake. Joe Hendry has been in the game for a long time.
Hendry has been doing online content for over a decade as he's risen up the ranks in the world of wrestling. Though he's had some past successes (Joe Hendry makes things better - Smells Like Teen Spirit, anyone?), nothing has blown up like his recent ventures.
"I felt like one day it would reach critical mass and people would go back and find stuff. It was pretty entertaining. I kind of felt okay being this niche thing. ‘The people that like it really like it. I’ll keep making it and doing it.’ Wrestling is kind of like music. A particular genre is popular and then something else is popular. When it comes to creative stuff, I think it was Tom Platz, a bodybuilder, who said, when he stood on the stage he wasn’t trying to appease the judges. He was doing bodybuilding, according to Tom Platz. I always encourage people, obviously you have to be mindful of your coaches and the audience, but when it comes to who you are and your act, it has to be wrestling according to you. Whether it’s in or not. I felt like for such a long time it wasn’t the most popular style of wrestling, and then it was in. Now that stuff is starting to gain traction when it’s suited to someone like myself. Timing wise, I’m fortunate," Hendry told Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp.
He continued, "You have to absolutely love every aspect of this game. Then when it starts to pay off, ‘Oh, that’s cool.’ For anyone who is passionate about anything, we’d still be doing it even if all these things weren’t happening because we have a passion for it. You need that passion to get through it. At no point did I ever go, ‘I’m quitting. I’m stopping.’ It just had to happen. I had a passion for it. I still do. I love it. I tell people, ‘Stay in the game.’ I’ve been self-employed for a long time. Basically, a full time wrestler since 2016. After the pandemic, before TNA, there was a point in time where I had to do other work. There are still other things that I do, a shoot job, and I have my own businesses, but there was a point where I was doing sales before I got to TNA. That’s where I got the character elements for Joe Hendry. I had this boss where, you’d go to these Zoom meetings, ‘Everyone, stand up!’ We all stand up on Zoom. He went, ‘Look outside. Look outside. Really look.’ I was like, ‘This guy is unbearable.’ That was the character, it was based on this guy. Yeah, I was doing tele-sales a couple of years ago. I wouldn’t change a thing."
Hendry is currently signed to TNA Wrestling, but crossed the line over to NXT on Tuesday, teaming with Trick Williams to defeat Shawn Spears and Ethan Page.
Fans can find Hendry's comments on his NXT appearance by clicking here.
Check out the full interview with Hendry in the video above.
