'I'll try and make that happen' - TNA Wrestling World Champion Joe Hendry wants to take promotion to Edinburgh

Scottish grappler Joe Hendry is the new TNA Wrestling World Champion after defeating Nic Nemeth at the promotion’s ‘Genesis’ pay per view last weekend.

The Edinburgh native has come a long way from Drummond Community High School and the past 12 months have seen him make appearances for WWE, reach number four in the UK music charts with his self performed entrance song ‘I believe in Joe Hendry’ and now represent one of the USA’s biggest companies as their world champion. Even though it was a breakout year for the 36-year old, he’s planning even bigger and better in 2025.

“2024 was a whirlwind,” said Hendry. “I have to say we're starting off the year hot. We're just in January and already I'm the TNA World Champion, so it's been awesome so far. I have a sneaking suspicion 2025 is going to be even bigger than last year.”

YOU CAN WATCH THE EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS’ FULL INTERVIEW WITH TNA WORLD CHAMPION JOE HENDRY NOW

Non-wrestling fans will of course have heard of WWE but for those unfamiliar with TNA (Total Nonstop Action), the company has existed since 2002 and some of the biggest names in the industry have called it home in those 20 plus years. Hall of Fame names like Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Mick Foley, Kurt Angle and Sting have wrestled for the Nashville based brand as have current leading names in the industry like Drew McIntyre, LA Knight and AJ Styles to name just a few.

Hendry is now the latest wrestler to win the company’s top title and the lineage of the championship is something that adds an extra degree of pride for its holder. He said: “It means everything. This is the greatest achievement in my professional career. TNA Wrestling was something I’ve watched intently from 2003 so to have this championship now and be in the same club as names like Kurt Angle, Sting, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Christian and so on is a huge honor.

“If you're in the United Kingdom, and want to watch TNA, the way I do it is to get the TNA Plus app. It's fantastic, so that's where you can catch all the action in the UK.”

Wrestling as a whole has had its ups and downs over the past 20 to 30 years and TNA has been no exception. Now though, with WWE reaching a deal to stream on Netflix and other promotions like AEW and TNA earning critical praise for their shows, thigs are very much reaching another peak.

“The TNA product is unbelievable,” said Hendry. “You just have to look at the size of the arenas that we're filling right now. The growth of TNA is absolutely undisputed. If you look at Slammiversary, we had about 4,000. Then at Bound for Glory, we had a packed house there. Then, the other night, we had sold out 4,000 at the Curtis Caldwell Center.

“This is not just like we're selling out here and there, It's all the time now. It's the norm for us to sell out the arenas that we're in. There was a time in professional wrestling where the entire industry dipped a little bit. Right now, pro wrestling is hot. TNA Wrestling's growth has been unbelievable in 2024.

“I'm so excited for what the company has in store for 2025. We have just unbelievable talent on our roster. I put our TV show right up there as an unbelievable professional wrestling program. There's something for everyone.”

There has also been unprecedented cross-promotion appearances between the major American companies, and in Japan, in recent years. TNA and WWE have recently reached a multi-year agreement that will see their wrestlers work across both promotions.

Hendry has already made waves in WWE after debuting on their NXT brand last year. He took on Ethan Page in a losing effort in the main event at NXT’s ‘No Mercy’ show last September and fans are hoping to see him back in WWE sooner rather than later with rumours rife that we may even see him as a surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble match later this month.

“The thing about these appearances is that a lot of the time we'll find out the day before or the day of,” said Hendry. “Nobody knows what's going to happen. That's what's so exciting about these partnerships is that anything is possible, but not even the roster knows if and when any of these things are going to take place.

“All you can do as champion is be ready when TNA Wrestling calls me and says, look, it's time to go, no matter where that is around the world. Whether it be London, Paris, Tokyo, America, Scotland, you've got to be ready to go.”

Hendry is far from just a professional wrestler, he is also a former British Senior National Champion in freestyle wrestling and was a member of Team Scotland at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. On top of that he is a black belt in Judo with a Master's degree in business and marketing as well as a talented musician but his biggest love has always been professional wrestling.

“I went to Drummond Community High School. My dad's house was on Easter Road and my mum's house was up in Liberton and my mum's house is where they had the wrestling channel, so I remember getting the bus all the way from Broughton Street up to the Liberton area to make sure I got home in time to watch the wrestling channel which had TNA Wrestling and a bunch of other pivotal, important professional wrestling promotions. I remember just being very excited to get home and see what wrestling was available to watch on the wrestling channel. I've got good memories of that.

“Believe it or not, and I've never spoke about this, but I actually attended a fan event for TNA Wrestling in 2013 when I just started training and I remember speaking to Dixie Carter [former TNA president] and saying I really wanted to work for TNA Wrestling, and now I'm the world champion, so it's quite amazing how things work out sometimes.”

Professional wrestling training in Scotland has never been more accessible and Hendry himself trained at the Source Wrestling School in Glasgow. It wasn’t always the case though with the likes of Drew McIntyre having to travel as far as Portsmouth when he was a teenager to learn the trade but now, anyone wanting to chase the dream, can begin much closer to home.

“I had actually made plans to go to Portsmouth to train, but for whatever reason it didn't happen. I got to 24-25, and I kind of decided, right, well, now I've really got to go. I think everything happens for a reason. I'm kind of glad I got into wrestling when I was 24-25 because I was a bit more mature.

“There are many places to train now. I have my own training school, the Discovery Wrestling Academy in Edinburgh as well. There's places all over Scotland. If you want to learn from the TNA world champion, that's where I'll be.”

Scotland is now represented not just by Hendry in TNA but by many notable names across major promotions in America and Japan. “I think it's awesome,” said Hendry.

“If you look at all the names across all the major organisations, in prominent positions, the amount of Scots that have been champions in major organisations in the last even couple of years is staggering. It's quite unbelievable. You’ve had Drew, who's been a WWE world champion. You had Isla Dawn and Kay Lee Ray take the tag team championships at the Hydro. You've got myself as TNA world champion.

“I don't want to leave people out but you had Piper Niven who challenged for the world championship in a PLE as well, Gallus over there doing their thing. I remember Damo performed at Wrestlemania. Nikki Cross was a world champion as well. I know I'm missing a bunch of people out here but that just goes to show how many Scottish wrestlers are out and about doing their thing. I'm very honored and very excited to join that club.”

Scottish wrestling fans have also been treated to plenty of shows in recent years with WWE bringing Raw, Smackdown and PLE ‘Clash at the Castle’ to the Hydro while TNA have also travelled to the UK. Hendry hopes to be able to represent TNA in his home country and maybe even his hometown some time soon and revealed that at one point he was scheduled to take on one of the biggest names in the history of the business in Scotland’s capital.

“I think this would be a great time to do it again [tour the UK]. That's a TNA management decision, but I'll be ready to go if they tell me to go. It's exciting, I'd love to get back to the UK and in particular, Scotland. It would be very special indeed [to perform in Scotland]. You never know, that could happen sooner rather than later. I'll try and make it happen from my end.

“I love Edinburgh and I still live in Scotland. I live in East Kilbride, but I'm in Edinburgh three times a week when I'm home. I'm looking at buying a house in Edinburgh as well. I'm always proud to represent Edinburgh. It's my hometown, It's where I grew up and I think I'll always have a base there my entire life.

“There was an opportunity some time ago in my career where I was almost going to wrestle Rey Mysterio in Edinburgh with a different promotion and that didn't happen. I thought that would be my opportunity to have a big match in Edinburgh but defending this championship there would be very special indeed. I will be appearing at Discovery Wrestling in Edinburgh on March 9, so you never know. It would be brilliant to bring TNA there.”

Just before we wrapped up our interview with Hendry, who was getting set to tape the latest episodes of TNA’s weekly show “Impact!” in San Antonio, there was time for one last question. Does the current TNA Wrestling World Champion support Hearts or Hibs?

“I knew this was going to come up,” he laughed. “I've got to be honest, I was just all about wrestling and MMA, but my family are such diehard Hearts fans. Recently I've kind of dipped my toes in the water, I've gone along to some games and I'm trying to learn the ropes when it comes to football.

“I'm kind of slowly getting into it and I'll let you know when I become a fully-fledged Jambo, but I seem to be on my way to do it. Even as a non-football fan, I've always enjoyed the banter between Hibs and Hearts, but if you're forcing me to pick a side then my dad will disown me if I don't say the Jambos. Who knows? In 2025, you're probably going to see Joe Hendry with a Hearts top.”