Top TNA star unveils that his WWE NXT debut almost didn't happen; had to prepare a last-minute performance
A major TNA star made his WWE in-ring debut during the latest episode of NXT in the Battle Royal. Fans had been highly anticipating his arrival on the developmental brand ever since a collaboration between both wrestling promotions was announced. Notably, it has now been revealed that his debut almost didn’t take place.
Joe Hendry received a huge pop from the crowd when he walked down the ramp of the white and gold brand. Joe was one of the participants in the Battle Royal to determine Trick Williams' next challenger for the NXT Championship. The star even said his iconic line, “Say his name and he appears!” for the crowd.
Speaking to Inside The Ropes, he revealed that everything about his debut was last minute and that there was a 50-50 chance it would not happen.
“I had two flights booked, one if it was happening and one if it wasn’t happening, but I didn’t know for sure until the day before. I literally went straight from doing Chris Van Vliet’s podcast to the airport and straight to Orlando.”
Fortunately, however, the plan didn’t get canceled in the end. The former TNA Digital Media Champ expressed his thankfulness to everyone in WWE and revealed he also learned some new stuff.
“I’m extremely grateful to all the staff in the Performance Center from the wrestlers themselves to the coaches, to production, to all the staff, the medical, everyone in there made me feel so at home and they were so open to collaborating... I feel like I really learned something, I feel like we were able to showcase TNA as well and I think what went down was a classic example of when everybody wins. TNA wins, NXT wins, the fans win, everybody got benefit out of this and everybody won and I think this is just the beginning of an amazing time in professional wrestling.” [H/T Inside The Ropes]
Joe Hendry’s WWE NXT debut showed major signs of a last-minute arrangement
Joe Hendry revealing the truth behind his WWE NXT debut puts a lot of things in perspective.
Hendry is easily one of the top names in the pro wrestling world right now. Despite this, he ended up being the first man to be eliminated in the Battle Royal that was staged to decide the next NXT Championship contender. Moreover, he was also eliminated within seconds by non-prominent stars Frankie Kazarian and Myles Borne.
In contrast, Jordynne Grace went on to fight Roxanne Perez for the NXT Women’s Championship at Battleground and fought a very close match. Fans expected something similar for Joe Hendry’s WWE debut, especially when he was put in a number-one contender match.
Seeing that everything happened last minute, fans now have an explanation for the big letdown with Hendry. It would be interesting to see whether the company will bring Hendry back for another performance.