Nic Nemeth credits Joe Hendry for his authentic connection to wrestling fans.
Joe Hendry won Moment of the Year awards in both TNA and NXT. He is ready to try for the third time in a year to capture the TNA World Title when he faces Nic Nemeth at TNA Genesis 2025.
During a recent interview with Shakiel Mahjouri, Nemeth reflected on the positive connection that Hendry has naturally cultivated with wrestling fans. Nemeth compared Hendry's rise to the popularity of Zack Ryder in the early 2010s.
"It's going to come off as a little gruff at first, but I've said this live before. 'I've seen a million of you come and a million of you go,'" he said. "You've seen that. You see the people that everyone's talking about the people that are getting the opportunities that you think you should. Then there's people that make a name for themselves on their own, much like Zack Ryder in the 2009, 2010 YouTube days. Then Joe Henry comes along, and not just plugging along, he actually gets everyone talking about him, and out of nowhere. That is such a feat. It is such a tricky part of our business. You can, you can check a box and be a 10 out of 10 in talking, wrestling, entertainment, bodybuilding, all the pieces that all apply, and still, it won't be this. You sometimes don't have that natural, organic chemistry with the crowd that changes everything
"It's very reminiscent of Zack Ryder in that 2009, 2010 days when it's, we know him., and then you have entire arenas chanting his name almost overnight," he adds. "You see the work that goes into it. You see the things on the outside that he's done. Again, this is something that, 5000 other professional wrestlers could have done this, and it doesn't always hit organically. It's like winning the lottery in a business that you love already."
However, as happy as he may be for Hendry, that doesn't mean he will just lay down and let Hendry take his championship.
"It's beautiful to watch it happen. But also I would be doing a disservice to the TNA fans and myself by going, 'Wow, that was cool that everyone's cheering for you. I guess you should just pin me for the world title.'Like, that's not how that goes. So it would be weird for me to be like, I keep saying, like, I'm rooting for him. I hope he does well. He's a good kid. He's doing great. I don't think that all of a sudden I should be bad at wrestling now, because he has this momentum behind him," said Nemeth. "Here's another piece, he's had the shot at the title. It didn't work out. Some people go their whole career without a shot at the world title. Some people get one. He realizes he's got at least a second shot here. So this changes everything. This would make me mentally stop thinking about making videos and doing fun things and going, 'Hey, I got the crowd with me. What I owe to them is to be an 11 out of 10 in this ring when it comes to trying to choke me out, tap me out, pin me, whether it takes two seconds or two hours.'
"My entire life is based on that aspect of this, going, 'No one's going to outdo me here. I'm never going to be tired. No one's going to choke me out, no one's going to tap me out, no one's going to pin me, and I won't let them.'"
Nemeth has also recently discussed his goals for 2025 and what he wants for TNA in 2026. Read more here.
Check out the full interview with Nemeth embedded in the video at the top of this page.
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