Christian D'Andrea
June 21, 2024 11:31 am ET
After making a surprise appearance on NXT — the WWE proving ground that produced stars like Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Bray Wyatt — Joe Hendry is a bonafide phenomenon. To this, I say: it’s about damn time.
The wrestling world is quickly realizing what folks overseas have known for some time. Hendry is a perfectly cromulent wrestler on the mat, but catch him outside the ring and his charisma shines. His gift for musical taunts and ever-present goofy smile have carved him a niche in the business and a place in the hearts and minds of fans. Say his name and he appears; I believe in Joe Hendry.
— WWE (@WWE) June 19, 2024Say his name and he appears…
Joe Hendry is here for the Battle Royal!!!@joehendry #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/QjVVmVccyr
I was lucky enough to catch him in Dundee, Scotland in 2015. I’d gone to watch Insane Championship Wrestling, the sovereign nation’s top local promotion, in hopes of seeing the majesty of Grado up close. But that night’s card was packed with show stealers, from Nikki Cross to Kenny Williams to Polo Promotions and the Wee Man.
In the middle, feuding with Wolfgang, was a charming, husky Scot dubbed the “Local Hero.” Hendry stole Wolfgang’s motorcycle and replaced it with a child’s bike, which was funny enough. But in the dead spots between matches, ICW played a handful of videos, including Hendry’s pre-match takedown of Timm Wylie.
With that, I was hooked. Well, maybe not hooked, but I was a Hendry fan. I subscribed to ICW On Demand to follow the promotion’s bigger events and periodically checked YouTube for new Hendry songs (often while drinking, as most wrestling-related YouTube searches go). But, sadly, it appeared Hendry’s star was leashed to smaller promotions.
Fortunately, TNA’s revival allowed him a place to thrive in North America once more. This run, hampered by copyright laws that made getting his parodies on the air difficult, gave us a handful of original Hendry songs — like the one backing his viral entrances.
This means America remains at risk on missing out on his best stuff. The thing is, pretty much every Hendry song is good. But if you’re new to the Local Hero, these are his best.
10
Anderson (Pokemon theme song cover)Hendry imagines a world where he has access to real life Pokemon. Pikachu commits a prison yard-style stabbing. Throughout, Ken Anderson — formerly WWE’s Mr. Kennedy — seems utterly baffled and annoyed by the whole process.
9
How do I live with Sabu? (Trisha Yearwood? LeAnn Rimes? parody)Wrestling is all about how styles make fights, in and outside of the ring. So when you pair a clean-cut, curse-averse classical wrestler with a hardcore legend as well known for botching extreme moves as hitting them, things will get a bit weird. Was Hendry covering LeAnn Rimes or Trisha Yearwood?
8
Cheez-It Champion (original)A shame that the TNA-WWE partnership didn’t come earlier so we could have gotten the actual footage of AJ Francis — formerly known as Top Dolla — and his legendary tope suicida botch. Instead we got Hendry recreating it with a hoodie stuffed with… pudding? and it’s lovely.
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[Expletive] People's Elbow (Bon Jovi cover)In Hendry’s defense, the worm is one of the dumbest wrestling moves in history. Scotty 2 Hotty was not a fan.
6
Hendry Ball (Miley Cyrus parody)Fear and Loathing VIII was one of ICW’s biggest events and Hendry had the chance to team up with two of the promotion’s brightest stars when he Kenny Williams and Noam Dar took on Doug Williams, Liam Thomson and Lionheart. While Williams’ Back to the Future themed entrances constantly earned high marks, he couldn’t compete with the Hendry Ball.
5
Lionheart is a Fanny (White Stripes parody)This is one of the most Scottish things you will ever see. Rest in peace, Lionheart. The veteran big man passed away in 2019.
Language on this one is NSFW. I think.
4
Jack Jester's In My Room (Venga Boys parody)As someone whose high school dances were 30 percent Venga Boys, I felt this in my DNA. Clearly Jack Jester did as well, because he wound up singing along.
3
Edge's [expletive] (original)Language is not safe for work on this one, but Hendry’s first TNA banger — his theme song came over from his Ring of Honor days — was this incredible series of burns on the internet’s champion, Matt Cardona.
This one’s also notable for Cardona’s response, which is a bonafide jam itself.
.@TheMattCardona gave @joehendry a taste of his own medicine…….@Myers_Wrestling #IMPACTonAXSTV pic.twitter.com/68CeYx8lPH
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) February 3, 2023
2
Battered by Joe Hendry (Wheatus parody)The original lyrics to Teenage Dirtbag — a great wrestling intro in its own right — no longer exist in my brain. There is only “Now you’re getting battered by Joe Hendry, cause you said a swear word. That offends me.”
1
Drew (Eiffel 65 parody)Between WWE stints, and on his way to a world championship, Drew McIntyre returned to his home country to star for ICW. This meant stints as champion and a team up with Jack Jester in the Black Label. And, occasionally, trying his best not to laugh in the ring while having an Eiffel 65 parody sung about him.
