Joe Hendry reflects on his WWE NXT debut.
On the June 18th, 2024 edition of WWE NXT, Joe Hendry would make his debut on the brand and with WWE, appearing in a number one contenders Battle Royal for the NXT Championship. While this appearance would be short, it would prove to be the catalyst for several more appearances in WWE for the TNA star.
While speaking on the latest episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Joe was asked about his NXT debut, with Hendry recalling finding out right after his previous interview with Insight, a small change to his entrance and the validation he felt upon making his debut on the brand.
“So we had two flights booked, because we suspected it was going to go down for a couple of days. But when the interview took place, I did not know. When the phone went back on, I knew. The timing is crazy. So I got on the plane to Orlando, and yes, I had the appearance the next day. Obviously, you have a dream outcome for how you want it to go, but I could never have expected the response that it got, and I have a theory as to why it got the response that it did. So it actually became WWE’s most watched video on X, it was 21-22 million views, something like that. It was an insane amount. It was the most-watched video. I think the reason is because of this. So in TNA, my music will play for a certain amount of time, and then I’ll walk to the ring. Whenever I see signs, I’ll point. I’ll get up. I’ll do my hand waving, I’ll get in. I’ll do the spin around and hold. In NXT they wanted to try this thing where they load you in and it’s the same. So you’re there right at the start. Is what I did for Mania as well, right? So it’s ‘Say his name and he appears, I believe in Joe Hendry’, and then you do the spin around. Now the timing is slightly different. So, usually I know exactly what I’m going to do at each point. I had not figured in that I would have an additional 30 seconds that I didn’t know what to do with. So I actually just reacted organically. I was just looking around. I was like, damn, all this work that I put in over the years, it was just such a validating moment. I was just looking around, and it was very real. I think it’s that real moment that people could feel. I see it in the comments, and I think when wrestling has those moments of you’re creating something, but you have those really organic moments. I think when the two come together that people really like that.”
Hendry is scheduled to defend the TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Trick Williams at WWE NXT Battleground. You can read more about that here.
Elsewhere in the same interview, Hendry spoke about his theme music and the origin of 'Say his name and he appears'. You can read more about that here.
