June 17, 2025 • 16 mins
Joe Hendry joins us ahead of TNA Wrestling's return to Pittsburgh (June 20-21) to talk about the company’s epic resurgence, the viral power of his entrance theme (now even in Spanish!), and how fans covering his music has taken on a life of its own. We dive into whether his photo with Mr. Iguana hints at a surprise tag team, and what it meant when James Storm got emotional seeing Joe at the top of TNA. Plus: Hendry reacts to Nic Nemeth's recent comments about him on our show, opens up about backstage moments that made TNA feel major league again, and discusses how close we really are to seeing that John Cena dream match.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the battle Ground Podcast, Joly and exclusive interviews
with some of your favorite wrestlers.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Abound podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Stop being.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
What's up you guys, Welcome back into iHeartRadio's official wrestling podcast,
to Battleground Podcast, and for the first time since twoenty eleven.
Oh that's a long time, TNA returns to Pittsburgh Friday
and Saturday, June twentieth of the twenty first, and it's
gonna be at the upmc evin Center. And on the
show today a guy that has been on here plenty
(00:44):
of times. You say his name, he shows up, he appears.
Give it up for Joe Hendry joining the show. Joe,
how you been doing?
Speaker 4 (00:50):
Man, I'm doing very well. Thanks.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
How are you doing pretty good? Glad to have you
back here on the show.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Now.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
I gotta talk to you because this was a kind
of a cool thing recently at Triple Many. Yeah, another
viral moment for Joe Hendry coming out to the Spanish
version of your song that we've all seen shared many
times on social media.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Tell me about the story on how that came about.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
How it came about it is I got to the
venue and they said, we got this cool idea for
your entrance, and I thought, okay, I usually had the
liverything to do with my entrance, but it was actually
a Triple A that did that. And I think, if
I can remember the name of the band, I think
it's the Easy I want I want to put them
over here. I don't want to. I want to make
sure to get the name absolutely right here. But I
(01:35):
didn't actually know about it until we got to the venue.
But before they said yeah, the Easy band. That was correct.
All I needed to do is sad bad, But yeah,
they did an awesome version of my song. And when
they said we're going to do this song, I knew
pretty much exactly what it was going to be, so.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Yeah, And it was great because we were sitting there
and I was watching some of the videos and I
was watching the footage and I was like, are we.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Getting the regular Joe Hendry song?
Speaker 3 (01:58):
And then you start hear and then I was like, oh,
this is fantastic, and you sit here and think about
it for a second. How does it feel that people
are out here covering your theme song? I mean, we've
got Easy Band doing their I think I recently I
saw like a dubstep version of your song.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I posted that on social media
the otherday. At Download Festival, there were people with flags
and like, people really want me to perform Download Festival.
So yeah, I'm seeing a bunch of like new music
stuff coming out that's really awesome.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
And it's pretty cool that the fact that there's people
out here covering your theme song, and like you said,
I mean we got the dubstep version, I'm waiting for
like a scream o heavy metal version. That's gonna be
a cool thing, right to see people covering like a
wrestling theme song, even though it is a real song,
it's a chart topping song.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
It's it's very cool. Like I thought the song was good,
and like I say, this is a terrible example to
use because there's no way to sound to not sound
out again when I say this, But I saw an
interview with Dave Grohl and he was talking about when
they made and Never by Neravana. They were like, I mean,
we knew it was good, but we didn't know it
was that good. And I'm you know, I'm not putting
myself in the same category musicalle or anything, but just
(03:09):
to that feeling of you've made something you know that
it's good. But I never would have thought they would
have resonated with people this much. I thought it was
going to be the pad of the entrances that I
did that were the big thing that got me over,
but I was I was wrong. So so yeah, it's
been an awesome thing to see.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
And I mean, I can't tell you how many times
like and I've got an eight year old who's a
big wrestling fan. I can't tell you how many times
he'll just walk through the house and be like saying,
and I'm like, it's caught on.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Well, it is caught on for sure.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
And you know, the one thing I will tell you
that a lot of people have noticed here about TNA
recently is clearly all in on building around homegrown talent.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
And you're at the front of that movement.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Was there a moment maybe recently backstage where it clicked
for you, like, yeah, TNA is at the top of
their game.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
We are one of the like major companies.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
Now, yeah, that is. That's something I take a lot
of pride in and I know the roster take a
lot of pride in it as well. You know, I've
been the TNA for the last three years now. But
there's been people who have been there for you know,
ten plus years, who have seen it through all different iterations.
Have been people who have been there since the very beginning.
I've been watching it since two thousand and two. So
(04:25):
to be at the forefront of this ERAO where we're
doing unprecedented business like to be honest, business wise in
terms of live gate, I don't know for sure, but
it might not be without the realms of possibility to
say that this is the best business that TNA has
ever done. I don't know the exact metrics on it.
I'd love to find that out, but regardless, it's certainly
(04:47):
this is a huge upswing for TNA Wrestling. A lot
of factors that went into it, and I'm I'm delighted
to play my part in that.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Yeah, absolutely for sure.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
And of course, for the first time since twenty eleven,
TNA Wrestling returns to p W'sburgh Friday and Saturday, June
twentieth of the twenty first held at the UPM see
Evin Center. Now this is something awesome because again this
goes back to the viral moments. You've gone viral on TikTok,
trend it on x fans, chant your names, and arenas
(05:16):
that don't even belong to TNA. Yeah, is wrestling finally
waking up to just how powerful personality and online presence
really is in twenty twenty five?
Speaker 4 (05:26):
And I think I think so for sure. But also
I think that different waves of popularity in pro wrestling
come along for different reasons. I think that it's it's organic,
you know. I think that's that's the main thing. When
you look at any person in professional wrestling who gained
popularity quickly, a lot of the time is because it's
(05:50):
it comes from the pute intention of trying to entertain
the fans. You know. It's like when I think about
top talents in the business that I tried to model
myself after and look at is like like if you
look at Cmpunk, for example, like he is authentically himself
and that is the thing that resonated with the audience.
And what I the stuff that I've made, whether it
(06:13):
be music or restling, the things I do, it's things
that I would find entertaining and it comes from a
place of genuinely wanting to entertain the audience, and quite honestly,
I was happy doing it in front of two hundred people.
You know, A lot of the time less I was
totally happy. I got to a place when I was
completely happy doing it in front of you know, small
crowds and just giving it my all. And I made
(06:33):
a deal with myself. I says, you know, if this
is as big as it gets, I'll do it to
the absolute best of my ability. And ever since I
started switching my mindset to that mentality, just every door
that I could have imagined started to open up like again.
And a key example is when I wrestled Brandy or
at WrestleMania. You know, I was I was not thinking
selfishly about well, what do I want? It was about, right,
(06:56):
we've got a situation where we can get a lot
of eyeballs on TNA, And then also was best for
the moment and the show as well. And we you know,
people can say whatever they want to me about that,
but it created an iconic moment and it was so
much so that a top trading card was made out
of it, and it's a moment that everyone will remember.
With doing my spin into the RKO, and then there's
(07:18):
you know, people talked about the second RKO, but when
Randy taps me, that's his seal of approval. And also
again I said I'm the one that said it. I
wanted people to associate my title run with an ascension
in big business and the show after that, the meat
and meat lineups were insane, the draw was insane. So
I had a positive impact on business and that's what
(07:39):
my contribution to TNA wrest and that's what I wanted
to hold you about. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Absolutely, And I got to tell you our buddy that
does the show with us, Josh Big Joe Hendry fan,
Like I kid you not, anytime a shirt pops up,
he's buying it. And he filmed his reaction when that
music hit in WrestleMania and he lost his mind. There's
a lot of words that he said that you can't
play on the radio. But we posted the video about
(08:04):
it and it's great. And you know one thing that
was a really cool moment recently in an interview with
Chris van Vliek, James Storm, who is a TNA legend,
got very emotional. He said, seeing the TNA World Champion
having a WrestleMania moment. Yeah, when legends like that see
you as part of TNA's future and legacy, does that
(08:25):
come with added pressure or is it just some motivation,
and I.
Speaker 4 (08:28):
Think it is more a motivation. I mean, I think
you get to a certain point where, like I say,
I've wrestled around the art in at WrestleMania in front
of you know what was it, fifty sixty thousand people,
sixty thousand people. I did the Rumble with seventy thousand
people and at the time that was the third most
watched pl of all type. So and so for me,
(08:51):
I've kind of been in those big pressure, those high
pressure situations, and I feel like I've delivered. So to me,
there just comes a point where you have to accept
if you'll do this at a high level, everything is
going to be high pressure. So I think that you're right.
I think motivation is more the word that I would
It's very motivating to hear those words, and it's like, right,
you got to keep going. There's so many people who
(09:12):
would crawl over broken glass to get an opportunity to
do AshEL in professional wrestling or do Ashyl for a
major organization. So to be in the spot I'm in,
the worst thing in the world that I could do
would be to take that for granted. So for me,
it's just about getting as good as I possibly can
at this game of professional wrestling contributing.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Right, absolutely for sure.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
And you know, you talk about the motivation, you talk
about the pressure. A lot of eyes became on the
brand especially, and you know, I'm just gonna rip the
band aid off. A TNA World Heavyweight Champion is not
somebody on the TNA roster, And of course a lot
of people have things to say about that, one of
those people being Nick Nammoth, who recently was on our show.
(09:57):
We talked to him about that for a brief second,
and I've got some audio for you and he I
wanted to get your response to what Nicky and.
Speaker 5 (10:06):
Joe Henry has been doing. Aweso Like, I beat him
a couple of times, but he beat me and he
won the title, and I patted him on the back
and I shook his hand and said, damn it, tonight
you were better than me. But in no world are
you ever going to be better than me. And at
this point we were rooting for him as a champion
because you know, he has the all the downloads, he gets,
the clicks on social media, iTunes, everything you can think of,
(10:27):
except for the fing pro wrestling part where he didn't
back it up. He went above and beyond to go
to do other company shows and for the most part
backed it up, and in this one case, because of
him not being able to back it up in the ring,
someone who doesn't work in TNA is the TNA World
Heavyweight Champion.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
So you see Nick say something like that, what's your
response to that?
Speaker 4 (10:52):
Well, if I can't back and if I can't back
up in the ring and I beat him, what does
that make him? You know? But also I think I
heard him say some some comments about I should get
taken to wrestler's court. I mean, I think I think
he should be taking a wrestler's court for bringing Ryan
Nenneth to TNA wrestler. That's what I think.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
You know, I will say that when we did.
Speaker 4 (11:14):
Seriously seriously, like, look, Nick's a legend in the game,
He's one of the best to ever lace up a
pair of boots, and he's a competitive guy. He's going
to say things like that. If I was Nicknameth, it
would hurt my feelings if to know that Joe Henry
was the guy for TNA Wrestling, and you know what,
me and him competed. Yes, he beat me, but I
beat him when it counted and I became the champion. Look,
(11:36):
Nick is a legend of the game, like I said,
one of the best to ever do it. But I
fully accept my part in dropping the ball and the
TNA World Championship going to another company. So you know what,
if Nick Nick has every right to be upset, every
member of the roster should be upset that the TNA
title is somewhere else, and that motivates me to go
(12:01):
and get it back. And once I do that, if
Nick wants another show, it sounds like we have unfinished
business there, can you?
Speaker 2 (12:08):
I think so.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
And you know what I think, once Joe Hendry gets
that TNA World title back, which we're putting that out
in the universe, I think Nick Nemmoth gets the first shot.
But let's be honest with you, Nick Nimoth is not
gonna get his hand raised once Joe Hendry becomes the
TNA Champion again.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
I like it. I like I like I like you
to approach here. I like you.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
I think we are putting it out in the universe,
and a lot of things are awesome right now with TNA.
Of course, in the middle of this wild renaissance, major
names are coming to TNA, working relationships, forming with WWE,
and you know you've been very vocal about this, wanting
to face John Cena before he's done with everything that's
happened lately. I know he's got a few dates left.
(12:48):
Is there still a possibility that it's on the table
that we see John Cena step into a TNA ring
to face Joe Hendry?
Speaker 2 (12:56):
What do you think I think it could happen. I mean,
never say, right.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
I mean, if if you'd have showed up in the
rumble was crazy. But if I'd have told you in
even March, Hey, I'm going to wrestle Randy or at
WrestleMania in a featured singles match, that would have sounded
pretty crazy, right, Does me wrestling johnsona sound that crazy? No,
(13:21):
it does not. It's within the realms of possibility. If
it happens, it's because I did everything I was supposed
to do. If it doesn't happen, it's because I dropped
the ball. And like I say, that's already happened once
this year. Kind of let it happen again.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
We're just gonna put out in the universe Joe Hendry
will become the TNA World Heavyweight champion, he'll beat Trick Williams,
and then Joe Hendry will didn't defend his TNA World
Heavyweight Championship against John Cena.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Maybe champion versus champion match never seen ever.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
I like the way you think about that, and uh,
you know, getting ready to wrap things up. I know
we've got a little bit left in this interview. A
lot of people on the internet. Anytime that Joe Hendry
post something, it goes very very viral.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Recently, Uh, you posted.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
A photo with another superstar that has taken the world
by store, mister Iguana, and you asked everybody to name
the duo. Is there is that something that you'd want,
Like a Joe Hendry and mister Iguana tag team just
taken over maybe TNA and the one.
Speaker 4 (14:22):
I was devastated that they that we didn't have a
tag match in Tripoli. They need to do a tag
match with me and mister Iguana.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
What about this?
Speaker 3 (14:32):
And we talked to the powers that be mister Iguana
and Joe Hendry versus the Nimaths for the TNA World
Heavyweight Championship tag team.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
I mean, you know what, I'd never I'd never thought
about that, But if there was if there was someone
to look I know, look me, Me and Elijah have
a bit of an alliance here, but that might be
the one exception that needed to take a step aside
for mister Iguana. I think that is the one.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
I mean there, there's your way to, you know, get
your payback on the comments to Nick said you take
his title away from him. You and mister Iguana are
tag Team Champions and we'll figure out a name a
name for this duo after you become Tag Team Champions.
Speaker 4 (15:12):
Yeah, sounds good.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
I think that's the great thing.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
Last thing I want to ask to you because this
is always a fun thing and with you being you know,
not only a wrestler but a musician. If we were
to scroll through Joe Hendry's like playlist right now, we're
scrolling through and we stop upon a song that we're like, huh,
we didn't think Joe Hendry listens to this.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
What is that song on your playlist that would surprise us?
Speaker 4 (15:34):
I don't know. I mean, well, my favorite song of
all time is The Gambler by Kenny Rodgers. I think
that would be fairly surprised.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
If you, hm, solid solid pick, solid pick, and I
mean it fits Joe Hendry. I mean, you've gambled on
yourself and it's awfully obviously paid off with everything.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
I like it.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
Yeah, it's a life metaphor right there, Joe Hendry. It's
an honor and or privilege to have you back here
on the show before we let you go. Is there
anything that you want to say to people watching or
listening to this right now?
Speaker 4 (16:04):
Yeah? Absolutely, I just I would encourage you to come
down and see T and A Rest and live. We're
very fan focused. It's going to be an amazing experience
here in Pittsburgh. We're doing Friday and Saturday at the
UPMC Arena. It's our events center. Again. We're gonna what
we're gonna do is we're gonna trial something new we
(16:24):
now have. Not only do we have a free subscription
tier on TNA Plus, but at certain tiers, what we're
going to offer is usually you would have to wait
a week or so to see the television that we take,
whereas if you are a TNA Plus subscriber on a
certain tier, you will be able to watch the show
live in Pittsburgh. So if you're not able to be
(16:44):
that in person, that'd be a great way to watch it,
but if you are nearby, come on down
Welcome to the battle Ground Podcast, Joly and exclusive interviews
with some of your favorite wrestlers.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Abound podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Stop being.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
What's up you guys, Welcome back into iHeartRadio's official wrestling podcast,
to Battleground Podcast, and for the first time since twoenty eleven.
Oh that's a long time, TNA returns to Pittsburgh Friday
and Saturday, June twentieth of the twenty first, and it's
gonna be at the upmc evin Center. And on the
show today a guy that has been on here plenty
(00:44):
of times. You say his name, he shows up, he appears.
Give it up for Joe Hendry joining the show. Joe,
how you been doing?
Speaker 4 (00:50):
Man, I'm doing very well. Thanks.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
How are you doing pretty good? Glad to have you
back here on the show.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Now.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
I gotta talk to you because this was a kind
of a cool thing recently at Triple Many. Yeah, another
viral moment for Joe Hendry coming out to the Spanish
version of your song that we've all seen shared many
times on social media.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Tell me about the story on how that came about.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
How it came about it is I got to the
venue and they said, we got this cool idea for
your entrance, and I thought, okay, I usually had the
liverything to do with my entrance, but it was actually
a Triple A that did that. And I think, if
I can remember the name of the band, I think
it's the Easy I want I want to put them
over here. I don't want to. I want to make
sure to get the name absolutely right here. But I
(01:35):
didn't actually know about it until we got to the venue.
But before they said yeah, the Easy band. That was correct.
All I needed to do is sad bad, But yeah,
they did an awesome version of my song. And when
they said we're going to do this song, I knew
pretty much exactly what it was going to be, so.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Yeah, And it was great because we were sitting there
and I was watching some of the videos and I
was watching the footage and I was like, are we.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Getting the regular Joe Hendry song?
Speaker 3 (01:58):
And then you start hear and then I was like, oh,
this is fantastic, and you sit here and think about
it for a second. How does it feel that people
are out here covering your theme song? I mean, we've
got Easy Band doing their I think I recently I
saw like a dubstep version of your song.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I posted that on social media
the otherday. At Download Festival, there were people with flags
and like, people really want me to perform Download Festival.
So yeah, I'm seeing a bunch of like new music
stuff coming out that's really awesome.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
And it's pretty cool that the fact that there's people
out here covering your theme song, and like you said,
I mean we got the dubstep version, I'm waiting for
like a scream o heavy metal version. That's gonna be
a cool thing, right to see people covering like a
wrestling theme song, even though it is a real song,
it's a chart topping song.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
It's it's very cool. Like I thought the song was good,
and like I say, this is a terrible example to
use because there's no way to sound to not sound
out again when I say this, But I saw an
interview with Dave Grohl and he was talking about when
they made and Never by Neravana. They were like, I mean,
we knew it was good, but we didn't know it
was that good. And I'm you know, I'm not putting
myself in the same category musicalle or anything, but just
(03:09):
to that feeling of you've made something you know that
it's good. But I never would have thought they would
have resonated with people this much. I thought it was
going to be the pad of the entrances that I
did that were the big thing that got me over,
but I was I was wrong. So so yeah, it's
been an awesome thing to see.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
And I mean, I can't tell you how many times
like and I've got an eight year old who's a
big wrestling fan. I can't tell you how many times
he'll just walk through the house and be like saying,
and I'm like, it's caught on.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Well, it is caught on for sure.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
And you know, the one thing I will tell you
that a lot of people have noticed here about TNA
recently is clearly all in on building around homegrown talent.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
And you're at the front of that movement.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Was there a moment maybe recently backstage where it clicked
for you, like, yeah, TNA is at the top of
their game.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
We are one of the like major companies.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
Now, yeah, that is. That's something I take a lot
of pride in and I know the roster take a
lot of pride in it as well. You know, I've
been the TNA for the last three years now. But
there's been people who have been there for you know,
ten plus years, who have seen it through all different iterations.
Have been people who have been there since the very beginning.
I've been watching it since two thousand and two. So
(04:25):
to be at the forefront of this ERAO where we're
doing unprecedented business like to be honest, business wise in
terms of live gate, I don't know for sure, but
it might not be without the realms of possibility to
say that this is the best business that TNA has
ever done. I don't know the exact metrics on it.
I'd love to find that out, but regardless, it's certainly
(04:47):
this is a huge upswing for TNA Wrestling. A lot
of factors that went into it, and I'm I'm delighted
to play my part in that.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Yeah, absolutely for sure.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
And of course, for the first time since twenty eleven,
TNA Wrestling returns to p W'sburgh Friday and Saturday, June
twentieth of the twenty first held at the UPM see
Evin Center. Now this is something awesome because again this
goes back to the viral moments. You've gone viral on TikTok,
trend it on x fans, chant your names, and arenas
(05:16):
that don't even belong to TNA. Yeah, is wrestling finally
waking up to just how powerful personality and online presence
really is in twenty twenty five?
Speaker 4 (05:26):
And I think I think so for sure. But also
I think that different waves of popularity in pro wrestling
come along for different reasons. I think that it's it's organic,
you know. I think that's that's the main thing. When
you look at any person in professional wrestling who gained
popularity quickly, a lot of the time is because it's
(05:50):
it comes from the pute intention of trying to entertain
the fans. You know. It's like when I think about
top talents in the business that I tried to model
myself after and look at is like like if you
look at Cmpunk, for example, like he is authentically himself
and that is the thing that resonated with the audience.
And what I the stuff that I've made, whether it
(06:13):
be music or restling, the things I do, it's things
that I would find entertaining and it comes from a
place of genuinely wanting to entertain the audience, and quite honestly,
I was happy doing it in front of two hundred people.
You know, A lot of the time less I was
totally happy. I got to a place when I was
completely happy doing it in front of you know, small
crowds and just giving it my all. And I made
(06:33):
a deal with myself. I says, you know, if this
is as big as it gets, I'll do it to
the absolute best of my ability. And ever since I
started switching my mindset to that mentality, just every door
that I could have imagined started to open up like again.
And a key example is when I wrestled Brandy or
at WrestleMania. You know, I was I was not thinking
selfishly about well, what do I want? It was about, right,
(06:56):
we've got a situation where we can get a lot
of eyeballs on TNA, And then also was best for
the moment and the show as well. And we you know,
people can say whatever they want to me about that,
but it created an iconic moment and it was so
much so that a top trading card was made out
of it, and it's a moment that everyone will remember.
With doing my spin into the RKO, and then there's
(07:18):
you know, people talked about the second RKO, but when
Randy taps me, that's his seal of approval. And also
again I said I'm the one that said it. I
wanted people to associate my title run with an ascension
in big business and the show after that, the meat
and meat lineups were insane, the draw was insane. So
I had a positive impact on business and that's what
(07:39):
my contribution to TNA wrest and that's what I wanted
to hold you about. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Absolutely, And I got to tell you our buddy that
does the show with us, Josh Big Joe Hendry fan,
Like I kid you not, anytime a shirt pops up,
he's buying it. And he filmed his reaction when that
music hit in WrestleMania and he lost his mind. There's
a lot of words that he said that you can't
play on the radio. But we posted the video about
(08:04):
it and it's great. And you know one thing that
was a really cool moment recently in an interview with
Chris van Vliek, James Storm, who is a TNA legend,
got very emotional. He said, seeing the TNA World Champion
having a WrestleMania moment. Yeah, when legends like that see
you as part of TNA's future and legacy, does that
(08:25):
come with added pressure or is it just some motivation,
and I.
Speaker 4 (08:28):
Think it is more a motivation. I mean, I think
you get to a certain point where, like I say,
I've wrestled around the art in at WrestleMania in front
of you know what was it, fifty sixty thousand people,
sixty thousand people. I did the Rumble with seventy thousand
people and at the time that was the third most
watched pl of all type. So and so for me,
(08:51):
I've kind of been in those big pressure, those high
pressure situations, and I feel like I've delivered. So to me,
there just comes a point where you have to accept
if you'll do this at a high level, everything is
going to be high pressure. So I think that you're right.
I think motivation is more the word that I would
It's very motivating to hear those words, and it's like, right,
you got to keep going. There's so many people who
(09:12):
would crawl over broken glass to get an opportunity to
do AshEL in professional wrestling or do Ashyl for a
major organization. So to be in the spot I'm in,
the worst thing in the world that I could do
would be to take that for granted. So for me,
it's just about getting as good as I possibly can
at this game of professional wrestling contributing.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Right, absolutely for sure.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
And you know, you talk about the motivation, you talk
about the pressure. A lot of eyes became on the
brand especially, and you know, I'm just gonna rip the
band aid off. A TNA World Heavyweight Champion is not
somebody on the TNA roster, And of course a lot
of people have things to say about that, one of
those people being Nick Nammoth, who recently was on our show.
(09:57):
We talked to him about that for a brief second,
and I've got some audio for you and he I
wanted to get your response to what Nicky and.
Speaker 5 (10:06):
Joe Henry has been doing. Aweso Like, I beat him
a couple of times, but he beat me and he
won the title, and I patted him on the back
and I shook his hand and said, damn it, tonight
you were better than me. But in no world are
you ever going to be better than me. And at
this point we were rooting for him as a champion
because you know, he has the all the downloads, he gets,
the clicks on social media, iTunes, everything you can think of,
(10:27):
except for the fing pro wrestling part where he didn't
back it up. He went above and beyond to go
to do other company shows and for the most part
backed it up, and in this one case, because of
him not being able to back it up in the ring,
someone who doesn't work in TNA is the TNA World
Heavyweight Champion.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
So you see Nick say something like that, what's your
response to that?
Speaker 4 (10:52):
Well, if I can't back and if I can't back
up in the ring and I beat him, what does
that make him? You know? But also I think I
heard him say some some comments about I should get
taken to wrestler's court. I mean, I think I think
he should be taking a wrestler's court for bringing Ryan
Nenneth to TNA wrestler. That's what I think.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
You know, I will say that when we did.
Speaker 4 (11:14):
Seriously seriously, like, look, Nick's a legend in the game,
He's one of the best to ever lace up a
pair of boots, and he's a competitive guy. He's going
to say things like that. If I was Nicknameth, it
would hurt my feelings if to know that Joe Henry
was the guy for TNA Wrestling, and you know what,
me and him competed. Yes, he beat me, but I
beat him when it counted and I became the champion. Look,
(11:36):
Nick is a legend of the game, like I said,
one of the best to ever do it. But I
fully accept my part in dropping the ball and the
TNA World Championship going to another company. So you know what,
if Nick Nick has every right to be upset, every
member of the roster should be upset that the TNA
title is somewhere else, and that motivates me to go
(12:01):
and get it back. And once I do that, if
Nick wants another show, it sounds like we have unfinished
business there, can you?
Speaker 2 (12:08):
I think so.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
And you know what I think, once Joe Hendry gets
that TNA World title back, which we're putting that out
in the universe, I think Nick Nemmoth gets the first shot.
But let's be honest with you, Nick Nimoth is not
gonna get his hand raised once Joe Hendry becomes the
TNA Champion again.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
I like it. I like I like I like you
to approach here. I like you.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
I think we are putting it out in the universe,
and a lot of things are awesome right now with TNA.
Of course, in the middle of this wild renaissance, major
names are coming to TNA, working relationships, forming with WWE,
and you know you've been very vocal about this, wanting
to face John Cena before he's done with everything that's
happened lately. I know he's got a few dates left.
(12:48):
Is there still a possibility that it's on the table
that we see John Cena step into a TNA ring
to face Joe Hendry?
Speaker 2 (12:56):
What do you think I think it could happen. I mean,
never say, right.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
I mean, if if you'd have showed up in the
rumble was crazy. But if I'd have told you in
even March, Hey, I'm going to wrestle Randy or at
WrestleMania in a featured singles match, that would have sounded
pretty crazy, right, Does me wrestling johnsona sound that crazy? No,
(13:21):
it does not. It's within the realms of possibility. If
it happens, it's because I did everything I was supposed
to do. If it doesn't happen, it's because I dropped
the ball. And like I say, that's already happened once
this year. Kind of let it happen again.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
We're just gonna put out in the universe Joe Hendry
will become the TNA World Heavyweight champion, he'll beat Trick Williams,
and then Joe Hendry will didn't defend his TNA World
Heavyweight Championship against John Cena.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Maybe champion versus champion match never seen ever.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
I like the way you think about that, and uh,
you know, getting ready to wrap things up. I know
we've got a little bit left in this interview. A
lot of people on the internet. Anytime that Joe Hendry
post something, it goes very very viral.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Recently, Uh, you posted.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
A photo with another superstar that has taken the world
by store, mister Iguana, and you asked everybody to name
the duo. Is there is that something that you'd want,
Like a Joe Hendry and mister Iguana tag team just
taken over maybe TNA and the one.
Speaker 4 (14:22):
I was devastated that they that we didn't have a
tag match in Tripoli. They need to do a tag
match with me and mister Iguana.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
What about this?
Speaker 3 (14:32):
And we talked to the powers that be mister Iguana
and Joe Hendry versus the Nimaths for the TNA World
Heavyweight Championship tag team.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
I mean, you know what, I'd never I'd never thought
about that, But if there was if there was someone
to look I know, look me, Me and Elijah have
a bit of an alliance here, but that might be
the one exception that needed to take a step aside
for mister Iguana. I think that is the one.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
I mean there, there's your way to, you know, get
your payback on the comments to Nick said you take
his title away from him. You and mister Iguana are
tag Team Champions and we'll figure out a name a
name for this duo after you become Tag Team Champions.
Speaker 4 (15:12):
Yeah, sounds good.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
I think that's the great thing.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
Last thing I want to ask to you because this
is always a fun thing and with you being you know,
not only a wrestler but a musician. If we were
to scroll through Joe Hendry's like playlist right now, we're
scrolling through and we stop upon a song that we're like, huh,
we didn't think Joe Hendry listens to this.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
What is that song on your playlist that would surprise us?
Speaker 4 (15:34):
I don't know. I mean, well, my favorite song of
all time is The Gambler by Kenny Rodgers. I think
that would be fairly surprised.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
If you, hm, solid solid pick, solid pick, and I
mean it fits Joe Hendry. I mean, you've gambled on
yourself and it's awfully obviously paid off with everything.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
I like it.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
Yeah, it's a life metaphor right there, Joe Hendry. It's
an honor and or privilege to have you back here
on the show before we let you go. Is there
anything that you want to say to people watching or
listening to this right now?
Speaker 4 (16:04):
Yeah? Absolutely, I just I would encourage you to come
down and see T and A Rest and live. We're
very fan focused. It's going to be an amazing experience
here in Pittsburgh. We're doing Friday and Saturday at the
UPMC Arena. It's our events center. Again. We're gonna what
we're gonna do is we're gonna trial something new we
(16:24):
now have. Not only do we have a free subscription
tier on TNA Plus, but at certain tiers, what we're
going to offer is usually you would have to wait
a week or so to see the television that we take,
whereas if you are a TNA Plus subscriber on a
certain tier, you will be able to watch the show
live in Pittsburgh. So if you're not able to be
(16:44):
that in person, that'd be a great way to watch it,
but if you are nearby, come on down
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