Joe Hendry details how he stopped his surprise WrestleMania debut from leaking ahead of time.
Hendry said he appreciated both TNA and WWE for keeping him a secret from everybody. He also shared that the match was all about creating moments and it indeed created a moment.
“This was a military operation. You know how rare it is, Bill, for secrets not to get out in professional wrestling? We weren’t even in the betting odds. That’s… That is how well this was kept a secret. And I’m extremely proud of that. That’s so hard to do in professional wrestling. And that’s a testament to TNA Wrestling, to WWE, and to my management team as well. All worked together to coordinate everything perfectly. I just had an amazing experience,” Hendry explained.
“There was no run-through of the entrance because we couldn’t. Because people would know. So, that shows you how slick WWE’s production is and how great the communication is between WWE and TNA. If you look at that entrance, that looks like that would have taken rehearsals.”
Joe Hendry is extremely proud of his work at WrestleMania 41
Hendry said that everything was ready for him, which he says is a testament to how amazing the production and the team are at WWE.
“The fact that we didn’t have a run-through and it was that cool with the doors opening and the visuals that we had. And even just little things like when we’re waving the hands from side to side, and the camera follows you, And if you look at the RKO, Randy is completely out of shot and then he comes in. And it’s… Look, people can say whatever they want about it. But our job is go and create a moment and that’s exactly what happened. That’s exactly what we did. We did exactly what was best for that show at that time. And I’m extremely proud of it.
“I was very hidden. What happened was, we’re again similar to Rumble, I had appearances at WWE World so, it wasn’t unusual for me to be there. I was in a tinted vehicle, I changed into a disguise, I had a hoodie, I had shades, I had the COVID mask, I had everything going on. I was like Inspector Gadget in the back there. Right? I got on the… And then, I’m telling you, they got these little golf carts and they are fast. They are fast. They had me on the back of one of these things. Boom. Straight to a secret room. You’re in, no one saw anything. It was a military operation,” Joe Hendry said.
Despite suffering a loss at WrestleMania 41, Hendry gained his momentum back by retaining his TNA World Heavyweight Championship at the TNA Rebellion pay-per-view.
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