Edinburgh wrestler Joe Hendry wins WWE NXT Championship in chaotic ladder match
The former TNA World Champion lifted the top prize in World Wrestling Entertainment’s developmental brand.
Edinburgh’s Joe Hendry has taken another step forward in his professional wrestling career after winning the WWE NXT Championship on the most recent edition of the weekly broadcast.
The former TNA World Champion has been on a rapid upward trajectory over the past two years since his entrance music ‘I Believe in Joe Hendry’ first went viral in 2024. Since then he has won the top prize in TNA (Total Non-Stop Action) wrestling, appeared in the WWE Roayl Rumble, wrestled one of WWE’s biggest stars in Randy Orton at Wrestlmania and signed a full time deal with World Wrestling Entertainment.
His value to the company is clear having now been positioned as one of the top male superstars in their development brand by winning the championship. He has also made further appearances on the main roster including most recently at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Joe Hendry wins WWE NXT Championship in chaotic ladder match
The Scottish superstar overcame six other competitors in a Ladder Match on the most recent edition of WWE’s weekly NXT broadcast. The object of the match is to be the first man to climb to the top of a ladder inside the ring and unhook the title belt which is suspended from the ceiling of the arena.
Hendry’s opponents were Shiloh Hill, Sean Legacy, Jackson Drake, Dion Lennox, Keanu Carver and former NXT Champion Ricky Saints who the Edinburgh native beat to the gold by last knocking him from the ladder. The victory marks the 37-year old’s first title win in WWE and his second major World Championship reign following on from his run as TNA Champion last year.
“I deal in facts and figures” - Hendry looks to elevate NXT Brand as new men’s champion
After his victory, Hendry appeared on the ‘Busted Open’ podcast with WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray (aka tag team wrestling legend Bubba Ray Dudley) to discuss how he hopes to elevate himself and, in doing so, the NXT brand. He said: “I absolutely do. The thing about that humility is that when you can allow that ego to go and you can be humble you can also start to deal in facts. #
“That is what I do now, I deal in facts and figure. So, when I get advertised for a live event I ask what the draw is, what it was before when I did my promo, what did the draw go up by. I now know what happens to the draw when I do a promo, if that starts to dip then we’ve got to change something up.
“I learned that from John Cena, from talking to top guys like him and CM Punk. These guys are fact and figures, they’re about statistics and the numbers. At the end of the day, it’s the wrestling ‘business’ so from that aspect of things, the business aspect, I’m super confident that I can add value to NXT.”
WWE NXT airs in the UK on Netflix, streaming live from 1am on Wednesdays (GMT). The full show, along with the back catalogue of previous episodes including this week’s edition where Hendry wins the championship, is available to stream on demand.
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