If you’re one of the few wrestling fans still to learn who Joe Hendry is, chances are you’ll find out soon enough.
The Scottish wrestling sensation’s last few weeks has been quite unlike any other, having tasted pop success and made a WWE debut.
While not necessarily being a household name, the versatile performer has long amassed a dedicated, adoring fanbase – a following that’s growing thanks to his recent exploits.
Also an accomplished amateur grappler, Hendry is a veteran of more than a decade, having wrestled all over the world on the packed independent scene, including stints with Ring of Honour and ITV’s reboot of World of Sport Wrestling.
He’s currently signed to TNA Wrestling, who themselves are in the midst of a WWE crossover of sorts that has seen TNA stars feature on WWE programming.
TNA Wrestling Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace recently appeared on NXT to challenge their women’s champ Roxanne Perez, causing a real buzz online.
That was just a hint of what was to come, however, as Hendry duly appeared on the most recent episode of NXT as an entrant into the Number One 1 Contender 25-Man Battle Royal match for the NXT Championship, alongside TNA colleague Frankie Kazarian.
Hendry’s arrival in particular was greeted by a thunderous reception from fans in attendance, who wasted no time in belting out the star’s signature theme tune: ‘I believe in Joe Hendry.’
The irritatingly catchy track has served Hendry well in recent weeks, going viral on social media to the extent it gatecrashed the UK and US music charts as an entry in its own right.
At one stage he’d toppled music megastar Taylor Swift from the top of the iTunes chart and left her in his, before eventually being overtaken by the ever so slightly more established star.
Speaking to Hello Rayo, the 36-year-old reflected of the madness: “[I] have been treated pretty well but the Taylor Swift fanbase – especially after calling her out. They’ve been fairly respectful.
“No disrespect to Taylor. She’s an awesome performer. All I was suggesting that she take on week holiday and let Joe Hendry do his thing then she can have the throne back!”
His music hit ended up settling in a very respectful no.4 on the UK Singles Downloads Chart and no.6 on the UK Singles Sales Charts – all before the madness started again with his WWE appearance.
His in-ring debut – Hendry had twice previously appeared as an extra on WWE Raw – was decidedly short; he lasted a matter of seconds before being dumped out of the battle royal, swiftly going backstage to confront NXT chief Shawn Michaels.
But the length of the cameo did little to dampen the rising enthusiasm for the grappler. The X post of his arrival on NXT has clocked up a staggering 17 million views as of Saturday night, making it WWE’s most viewed post of the entire year – WrestleMania season included.
It’s a phenomenal feat for a wrestler not even contracted to WWE, though it seems hard to imagine Hendry won’t be invited back soon enough.
He told Busted Open: “This has absolutely exceeded all expectations in all ways.
“I started to think, ‘this could be a moment’ when there were people who work at the PC [WWE training facility] and other stars at the PC, a lot of them were talking about my song.
“A couple of the producers were saying they expected a big reaction. I started to get the rumbling that more people knew the song and my act that I realised.
“I still didn’t think it would get that over. It doesn’t feel real. It’s total validation.”