Although his mind should be on challengers Frankie Kazarian and Ethan Page at Rebellion, TNA World Champion Joe Hendry still has Randy Orton on his mind. That RKO at WrestleMania has taken its toll.
“I’ve had this reoccurring rotator cuff issue. I’ll be honest, landing from from the RKO does not help that situation. We’re we’re going to see how I feel on Sunday but I will be at Rebellion defending the championship and it is going to be a huge challenge to overcome these two opponents. From the perspective of the fans it’s great to watch because from their eyes absolutely anything can happen,” Hendry told Slam Wrestling.
Hendry feels he is behind the eight-ball heading into the match.
“The stakes are extremely high with this match-up. Frankie and Ethan are my two arch rivals in recent years in professional wrestling. To have to contend with both of them at the same time, for me, it’s not ideal,” he admitted.
With the changing of the guard in various ways behind the scenes at TNA the promotion has had a strong 2025 thus far including their mutually-beneficial relationship with WWE.
“If you look at what modern wrestling is I think that TNA has contributed in big way to the blueprint of what it has become. If you go back and look at TNA in 2002 and 2004 you see it had a huge influence on all of modern wrestling. So, I think TNA not only has the history and the heritage. I think that wrestling is at its best when it’s it’s like a variety show,” said the champ who has successfully combined his love of music and his love of wrestling in TNA.
According to Hendry what makes TNA stand out in today’s crowded wrestling landscape is its distinct divisions.
“TNA excels in each division. I think that’s what I really like about TNA. I’m excited to see what Steve Maclin does with his International Championship, for example. As I’ve said before, the Digital Media Championship was extremely fun. It was great for people like myself, for Matt Cardona, for Jordan Grace, to do something a little bit different with the title. I think we needed that, our version of the Intercontinental Championship. To answer your question I like what each distinct division brings and I think that there is something for everyone when you watch TNA Wrestling regardless of who you are. Whether you’re a wrestling fan or not if you go to a show you are going to be entertained,” he explained to Slam.
Although wrestling Randy Orton at WrestleMania was a dream come true for Hendry the WWE was criticized by some fans for permitting Orton to defeat Hendry, the TNA World Champion, in just over three minutes. Hendry argues the appearance did a lot for his career and TNA.
“You do not get selected to wrestle Roman Reigns if you’re not the top level. You do not get hand-selected to wrestle Randy Orton at his 20th WrestleMania unless you know what you’re doing. Joe Henry does not need to pivot. This is full-steam ahead! We’re going to do phenomenal business for TNA wrestling. That’s all we’ve got to worry about. No pivot required. Full-steam ahead for TNA Wrestling and Rebellion is gonna be incredible…Look, if John Cena tells me I did a good job then I’m going to go ahead and say that I did a good job. I’m going to use Cena’s advice as well. You must pay attention to the metrics and the immediate metric that we have is unless they’ve restocked while I’ve been on this call, you cannot buy a Joe Hendry T-shirt on WWE.com. That’s a metric that I pay attention to. I look at the the amount of video clips that are going out of that moment of me and Randy. If that wasn’t an iconic moment, WWE and TNA wouldn’t be putting it out multiple times a day,” he said.
John Cena wasn’t the only one backstage offering advice and guidance.
“I was just so pleased with the whole experience and how approachable everybody was, how nice everybody was. I spoke about this at the Rumble but it really means a lot to me when Triple H takes a moment to talk to me before I go through the curtain because I feel like he is not only excited for the partnership but he’s also excited for me as an individual,” he said. “I really appreciate, Triple H and many others taking time out of their day to just tell me what I need to hear in that moment.”
Hendry went on to explain how he kept his involvement in Mania a secret. He was already in town for WWE World so that was a good cover but he also drove around in a tinted vehicle and wore a disguise of a hoodie, sunglasses and a COVID mask to fool people.
“I was like Inspector Gadget in the back of the car! I’m telling you they’ve (the WWE) have got these little golf carts and they’re fast! They are fast! They had me on the back of one of these things. Boom! Straight to a secret room! You’re in! No one saw anything. It was a military operation. They don’t mess around when it comes to that. They do not,” said Hendry of the WWE production staff.
With the WWE and TNA already trading and swapping talent on Impact and NXT, Hendry believes that Rebellion is a must-see event.
“The hype for Rebellion is going to be unbelievable!…I’m giving you advance warning. Don’t miss this! Don’t miss this event!” he said.
Here is the card for Sunday’s event:
- Fatal Influence (Fallon Henley, Jacy Jayne and Jazmyn Nyx) vs. Rosemary, Xia Brookside and Léi Ying Lee – Six-woman tag team match
- Moose (c) vs. KC Navarro vs. Leon Slater vs. Matt Cardona vs. El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Sidney Akeem – Ultimate X match for the TNA X Division Championship
- Elijah vs. TBA – Singles match
- Mike Santana vs. Mustafa Ali – Falls Count Anywhere match
- Ash by Elegance and Heather by Elegance (c) (with The Personal Concierge) vs. The Meta-Four (Jakara Jackson and Lash Legend) vs. Spitfire (Dani Luna and Jody Threat) vs. Gigi Dolin and Tatum Paxley – Four-way tag team match for the TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Championship
- Steve Maclin (c) vs. Eric Young – Singles match for the TNA International Championship
- The Hardys (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) (c) vs. The Nemeth Brothers (Nic Nemeth and Ryan Nemeth) – Tag team match for the TNA World Tag Team Championship
- Masha Slamovich (c) vs. Tessa Blanchard – Singles match for the TNA Knockouts World Championship
- Joe Hendry (c) vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Ethan Page – Three-way match for the TNA World Championship (Kazarian’s Call Your Shot championship match)
