Joe Hendry signed with IMPACT Wrestling in September 2022 after competing around the independent scene in Europe.
Before joining IMPACT, Hendry was part of Ring of Honor, though he wasn't able to wrestle for the company during the pandemic. He did compete at ROH Final Battle 2021 and then returned for ROH Supercard of Honor, the first show under Tony Khan.
Speaking to SP3 of Tru Heel Heat, Hendry reflected on his time in ROH.
"So it's an interesting situation, look at Ring of Honor were very gracious to the roster in that we all got paid our full salaries even when we were at home. So I got paid my full contract for the amount of time I was with Ring of Honor and as a result, I've got a mortgage and I've got my car, you know. And it's like if it wasn't for Ring of Honor, I would not have a house. I have a house because of Ring of Honor. So it's the house that Honor built, you know. I'll never not have gratitude for that. What I did is I believe I have to do something. I don't like just getting money, I said I got to earn my money, so I started a show called 'Technique Tuesday'. I did other content, I did something called 'Making the Moveset'. I was self producing these shows from home because I was like, 'well if they do cut talent, maybe I'll stay on longer because I'm making additional content for them, to get up those content hours,'" he said.
He continued, explaining how he ended up on the Final Battle pay-per-view
"So what happened was, when everybody got let go and there was Final Battle, the White House had made the decision that they were going to allow travel for a short period of time. And I phoned Greg (Gilleland) who was the general manager at Ring of Honor, who I have to say by the way, who was always cool to me and straight up with me, you know. I know there's heat online for based people, but I'd tell you Greg always kept to his word with me and I thought he was a good guy," he said. "So I phoned him and I said, 'listen, all that extra content that I did, I'm cashing that in now. I'm cashing that in and I'm asking, I want to be on that Final Battle pay-per-view'. He's like, 'alright well run it by Hunter'. So I phoned the booking team and I said 'listen like this is the situation I want to be on Final Battle. I've done all this extra content, I want to cash that in, that's what I'm asking for, for actual loyalty, I want something back and I want to perform at this show.' I knew I had to knock it out of the park and I got through there and I said, 'look, fly me in a week early.' I knew if the White House was going to change travel, they would do it on a Monday. So I flew in like it was 10 days early and I quarantined in a hotel for like 10 days because I said I don't care as long as I get in. I got in the country and I quarantined and thankfully my COVID test was negative and went out of there. I had one of the best performances of my career and I genuinely believe that's what led to this situation with IMPACT Wrestling."
ROH went on hiatus after Final Battle 2021 before being purchased by Tony Khan. Hendry returned for Supercard of Honor to face Dalton Castle.
"So I'll be honest, when I did that show (Supercard of Honor), I thought Tony Khan was very cool. I was impressed in his knowledge of not just his company and the business, but also what was going on the independent scene and periphery. Like he knew who I was, he knew what I was doing, he knew where the story needed to go, so I was very taken aback by that so that was awesome. The fact is IMPACT Wrestling is the perfect fit for me right now. And that's why I chose to go to IMPACT Wrestling, it was the right move at the right time, and don't get me wrong, I am very grateful to AEW and Ring of Honor for giving me that opportunity there, but IMPACT is the right move for me. I'm very happy to be here, have a lot of gratitude for it. And I mean the team, the locker room and the roster that we've got, it's the dream job man, it's the dream job," he stated.
Hendry is set to defend his iMPACT Digital Media Championship against Moose at IMPACT Hard to Kill on January 13.
Fans can check out the lineup for the show by clicking here. Fightful will have coverage of the show beginning at 7 p.m. ET with the pre-show.
