Scott D'Amore: Joe Hendry's Rise Should Have Happened Ages Ago, It's Great That It's Happening Now

Scott D'Amore is happy to see Joe Hendry's success.

Joe Hendry has been grinding for years, and he started gaining plenty of momentum when he came to TNA/IMPACT Wrestling. He previously won the Digital Media Championship, but his ascension has reached new heights in 2024. Hendry has been a key player in the crossover between NXT and TNA, and he will challenge Ethan Page for the NXT Championship at NXT No Mercy.

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Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, former President of TNA Wrestling Scott D'Amore discussed Joe Henry's rise.

“It's something that should have happened ages ago but never did. It's great that it's happening now. My massive ego loves the fact that I got to be part of starting it. But to be clear, it didn't happen because of me, it happened because of the right thing. I’m honored to be part of that, and I can look at it and smile. Look, here’s Joe Hendry. Joe grabbed me one day and he goes 'Scott, Did I ever tell you why I chose to come to IMPACT?' I’m thinking, he probably did and I don’t remember. I was like, 'I don’t think so.' He told me a story. First, he told me a story about he was someplace else, and his music was playing. It’s like, okay, here I am and it was a big moment. His music has a spot where he comes out, and somebody pushed him and said, 'Go!' They pushed him out before it was the moment. He’s kind of like, 'These guys don’t get me.' Then he goes, 'In that moment as I went to the ring I thought of an interview you did in the UK years ago.' I think it was like 2018-19, long before he ended up coming, because he ended up going to Ring of Honor. He goes, 'You did an interview and they asked you a question about future World Champions, you mentioned Moose, Josh Alexander and Joe Hendry.' I was like, 'Oh, so glad I did that.' He goes, 'I heard that, and I was like, there’s a guy who gets me.' He didn’t come then, but then when he became free again, he’s like, 'Okay, maybe there’s more money for me somewhere else, but right now, I want to go somewhere where there’s people that that get me.' Let me be clear, it’s not like I was the only one. But that’s the type of stuff that really makes me feel good. The fact that he gambled on coming to us at IMPACT, to TNA, because he trusted us, that we would handle him right. I think we have, and he’s obviously delivered. Those types of things make me happy," D'Amore said.

Click here to see what D'Amore had to say about TNA working with WWE.

Mark Andrews recently praised Joe Hendry. Check out his comments here.

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Thanks to Chris Van Vliet and his team for sharing these quotes.

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