For some, it was a match made in heaven when Joe Hendry teamed up with New Japan Pro Wrestling Star Yuya Uemura in TNA.
The two formed a tag team and called themselves 'JOYA' before Uemura competed in a Feast or Fired match and drew the 'Fired' briefcase at iMPACT 1000. Still, the team was a hit and now, Joe Hendry is saying if Uemura had stuck around a little bit longer, they would have been tag team champions.
That's what Hendry recently told Fightful's Joel Pearl, saying that there was a still a lot of story to tell with 'JOYA.'
I didn’t know he was going back to New Japan at that time. If he had a couple of months extra, we would have been TNA Tag Champs. I can, hand on heart, tell you that’s where that was going. I was personally devastated when Yuya went back to New Japan. I think we left money on the table with JOYA. We did a couple of matches and the fans were eating it up. Believe it or not, that was the pivotal moment for me in TNA where I knew everything was going to be okay because I was told we were going to be in a tag team and we would not be using my Joe Hendry entrance. My wrestling mentor, Robert at the time, I said, ‘I don’t know what to do without my entrance.’ He said, ‘I think you’re capable of coming up with something.’ He was correct. I came up with the song for me and Yuya and it took off. That’s when I knew, my biggest weapon was taken away, and I still managed to find a way to get over. That’s when I knew everything would be okay. I felt like people were watching me and Yuya in rehearsal doing this dance on stage and I had the feeling that people felt like they were going to watch a car crash and then we went out and the crowd got right behind it. I knew in my heart we were good," Hendry said.
Hendry is set to defend the TNA World Championship against both Frankie Kazarian and NXT's Ethan Page at TNA Rebellion, happening April 27 at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, California.
Fans can check out the lineup for TNA Rebellion by clicking here.
Fans can check out Fightful's full interview with Joe Hendry in the video linked at the top of this article. After that, check out our other recent interviews by visiting our YouTube channel.
