Joe Hendry Reacts To Becoming WWE NXT Champion
Joe Hendry has reflected on what it means to be WWE NXT Champion.
After Oba Femi vacated the WWE NXT Title in the first week of January because of a move to the main roster, it was announced that the next champion would be determined in a Ladder Match.
That 7-man Ladder Match took place on the February 3rd edition of WWE NXT as Joe Hendry and former champion Ricky Saints battled on the ladder to reach for the championship. After exchanging strikes on the ladder, Hendry was able to grab the NXT Championship and pull it down to become the new champion.
Hendry has spent 15 years in pro wrestling, performing all over the independents, with many years in Europe and, in particular, the UK. He was in ROH, then went to TNA and became their World Champion. Hendry officially signed with WWE and was part of NXT in late 2025.
While speaking to The Sportster, Hendry spoke about how wrestling is about moving forward.
“That’s the thing I love about wrestling is that it moves forward. Winning the Championship was a huge goal of mine. It’s something that I’ve been super focused on, and we got that done. Now the goal is, how do I represent NXT in the best way possible?
What can I do to potentially elevate the brand at NXT? What can I do as part of this team to help keep us moving forward and take us to the next level?”
Joe Hendry Was Focused On Building His Brand
As Hendry spoke more about the progress he has made in his career, he spoke about the importance of stories in life and wrestling.
“Wrestling and life is about stories. People love stories. It’s about narratives. What narrative are you going to create? And I go into that with that mindset, with anything and everything I do. So for me, I wanted to become an NXT champion. What narrative do I have to build so that when people see Joe Hendry, they see someone who could carry a championship?
It was my job to build that story by being at the performance center every day, by putting in the work, by constantly improving, by building my brand. That was the story that I was building to build myself into someone who could carry the championship.”
In his first NXT Championship defense, Joe Hendry beat Jackson Drake on the February 10th episode of NXT, as Hendry continues to make fans believe in him as a fighting champion.