A new report suggests that Joe Hendry making frequent appearances on NXT recently aren’t a coincidence, and are the early steps towards an eventual jump to WWE next year.
Early this year, WWE and TNA Wrestling announced a talent-sharing partnership that would see TNA wrestlers appear in NXT, and vice versa. One of the stars of that partnership has been former TNA champ Joe Hendry, and it even included a surprise appearance at WrestleMania 41 in April.
There has always been an assumption that Hendry would make the jump to WWE when his TNA deal ended. Well, that switch could be happening sooner than expected. According to Jon Alba of Sports Illustrated, Hendry is being “phased off of TNA TV,” with the expectation he will be under a WWE contract to begin 2026.
If a company knew a performer was planning to go elsewhere, being phased out on their way out the door is a common practice. However, since the two companies have a partnership that has benefitted both sides, it seems they are allowing Hendry to appear more often in NXT to lay the groundwork for his full-time shift.
In this week’s “Homecoming” edition of NXT, former NXT and TNA Champion Bobby Roode had a segment with Hendry and said, “Now that you are in NXT,” and told him he would like to see him eventually win the brand’s title.
That was a clear hint at what might be coming, and this new report confirms that Joe Hendry will soon be a WWE contracted performer.
