Joe Hendry’s Top 5 NORTH Moments
Joe Hendry is a man of many talents. It would take a 10,000-word essay to list all of his talents, but Joe Hendry would probably have learned 50 more talents by the time you had finished reading. This is Impact Wrestling’s Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry’s Top 5 moments in NORTH Wrestling.
JoeBL
Joe Hendry is the pinnacle of entertainment and the undisputed king of custom entrances.
When Hendry was set to face Will Kroos at NCL.3.1, he decided to channel his inner capitalist cowboy and make his entrance as JoeBL.
Accessorised with the signature white hat and towel, Hendry came out riding behind a white toy car with bull horns attached to the front and this was probably the first time JBL’s music got a positive crowd reaction maybe ever. What makes this entrance even better was that it interrupted and subsequently ended a Shreddy promo.
Just because Joe Hendry was dressed like JBL, it did not mean he wrestled like him as this match was a terrific hard-hitting affair. Kroos and Hendry matched up amazingly well, having a bout that featured a mix of huge power moves and graceful high-flying attacks.
Unfortunately, the man who can seemingly ruin anything, Shreddy, came out and crashed JoeBL’s car into the head of Hendry causing this classic of a match to end in a disqualification. Hopefully, the two can have a rematch one day that doesn’t end in a Shreddy-related incident and maybe Hendry could come out as a more likeable character from the early 2000s, that would be very cool, maybe even Too Cool.
Scotty vs Scotsman
Hendry had seemingly met his match in terms of charisma as he went one-on-one with Scotty 2 Hotty.
The Local Hero made his entrance to a custom song that mocked his opponent’s previous WWE career and viciously insulted Hotty’s signature finisher move that the crowd obviously cheered on in admiration.
However, the master of the worm got the loudest crowd reaction of the night by just removing his hat which visibly upset Hendry. It took five minutes from the opening bell for the first offensive move of the match which was a cheap shot from the prestigious one.
In a typical Joe Hendry affair, the crowd would be in fine voice cheering on the Scotsman, but this was no typical match. Joe Hendry was receiving a hostile reception from the NORTH faithful for the first time ever. To make matters worse, the most hated man in NORTH, Shreddy, interfered by attacking Scotty 2 Hotty and handed an unknowing Hendry the win.
After the final bell, Joe Hendry lived a childhood dream by assisting in Scotty 2 Hotty hitting the most electrifying move in wrestling, The Worm, on Shreddy to send the crowd into a flurry of joy. Scotty 2 Hotty’s son even came out as everyone did the worm and had a great time.
The Local Hero’s journey to NORTH
It had been almost three years since Joe Hendry had made an appearance in a Newcastle wrestling promotion. After traveling the world, Hendry finally returned to the Northeast of England and debuted in NORTH.
Molly Spartan needed a partner to join her and Shreddy in the opening bout of NCL.2.4 so she called upon her fellow countryman to save the day, as heroes do.
It wouldn’t be a signature Joe Hendry moment without a custom entrance song. The Answer parodied the classic ‘What Is Love’ before making his surprise appearance to a raucous reception.
Despite being on the same team, Hendry and Shreddy clashed like beyblades with their massive egos trying to push the other out of the spotlight.
Molly Spartan played peacemaker well enough to ensure victory for her team, but the bickering continued after the bell that would turn into a feud between the big beefy men.
Joe Hendry having a homecoming of sorts was an all-time great NORTH moment, it was just a shame Shreddy was there.
Wrestler vs Entertainer
NORTH Champion Liam Slater called out Joe Hendry for this title match, challenging the latter to prove he was a wrestler and not a pretender. Slater had voiced his displeasure of Hendry’s antics and song parodies. To combat this, Joe Hendry came out to a parody song that mocked the champion.
This match was very much an attempt by both competitors to prove something.
Liam Slater wanted to prove Hendry was nothing but a gimmick who couldn’t hang as a pure wrestler. Joe Hendry wanted to prove not only could he wrestle but he could out-wrestle the best that NORTH has to offer.
Hendry had the strength advantage and it showed with an abundance of high-impact power moves that left Slater bruised but not beaten. The two titans traded blows in the forms of powerbombs, a top rope superplex and submission manoeuvres. In the end, Hendry went for his one more power move, but Slater reversed with a victory roll to take the pinfall victory.
Joe Hendry’s nickname at the time was The Answer and just like the Answer Allen Iverson, Hendry couldn’t win the championship. Although Hendry didn’t leave with the gold, he did prove himself as a great professional wrestler who, on another day, could have been the victor.
Making a lasting IMPACT
The Local Hero turned into the Global Hero as he traveled the world, collecting championships like they were pocket monsters. One belt that outshone all others was the IMPACT Wrestling Digital Media Championship.
In December 2022, Joe Hendry made history by defending his title at NORTH, the first time that the Digital Media Championship had been defended in the UK.
The prestigious one set an open challenge and who better to answer the call than NORTH favourite Amir Jordan? The crowd was elated to see Jordan accept the challenge, but Hendry must not have been feeling the same knowing that the Bhangra Bad Boy had won 7 out of his last 11 matches in NORTH.
Joe Hendry is over 200 pounds of pure inspiration and used all his mass to overpower Jordan at seemingly every turn. However, Amir Jordan used his acceleration and agility to fight back against the larger man and turn the contest in his favour.
Like most indie wrestler’s favourite shoe brand, Amir went Air Jordan hitting Hendry with multiple aerial assaults and came ever so close to a three count, but it wasn’t enough to topple the inspirational one.
Joe Hendry soon ended the match with one last humongous power-move before pinning Jordan for the victory. This was a tenacious battle with both competitors giving their best effort, but Joe Hendry was the better man on the night and continued his title reign.
