Joe Hendry Makes His WWE Debut: TNA wrestler and internet sensation Joe Hendry made his WWE debut on this week’s episode of NXT during a battle royal to determine the #1 contender for the NXT Championship.
On last week’s episode of the White and Gold brand, WWE Champion Cody Rhodes told NXT Champion Trick Williams that there would be a battle royal to determine the latter’s next challenger on this week’s programming.
As most of the wrestlers for the 25-man match were already in the ring, Hendry’s popular theme song ‘I Believe in Joe Hendry’ played out in the arena as the Scottish wrestler walked out to rapturous applause.
The 36-year-old wrestler has been a popular indie face in the UK for years and was a part of the country’s budding wrestling scene in the 2010s. Known for his ability to keep an audience in the palm of his hand and to market himself, Joe grew to be one of the most popular wrestlers in the UK before moving to the United States.
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Earlier this year, his theme song swept through the internet wrestling community, partially as a meme and partially because of how catchy the song is. When the song was released as a single in April 2024, it rose to as high as #6 in the UK singles sales charts and peaked at $4 on the Official Big Top 40 Charts, just behind the likes of Taylor Swift.
Watch: I Believe In Joe Hendry
One of the very few wrestlers outside WWE to have broken into the mainstream, WWE fans have been clamoring to see the charismatic wrestler on their screens.
So when TNA Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace made an appearance on NXT to face the brand’s Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez at NXT Battleground and opened a working relationship between WWE and TNA, the fans of the former started counting down the days as to when Joe Hendry would make his WWE debut.
Joe Hendry Makes His WWE Debut
And their wish came true this week, as Hendry participated in the 25-man battle royal to determine the #1 contender for the NXT Championship.
However, his stay in the match was not long. All the participants in the battle royal banded together to eliminate Joe in a matter of seconds, ending a debut that was looked forward to by many in seconds.
But that was not the extent of TNA’s working relationship with NXT that night, as former AEW star and TNA legend Frankie Kazarian participated in the match too and was one of the final men eliminated.
As for the battle royal itself, it was won by ‘Young OG’ Je’Von Evans, who was one of the most exciting wrestlers in the world at the age of 20. He will face Trick Williams for the NXT Championship at NXT Heatwave on July 7 (July 8 IST) in the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada.
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