Joe Hendry: I Felt Like I Had Achieved The Goal At TNA & I Felt Like In Order For Me To Grow, It Was Time To Leave

Joe Hendry opens up about his decision to depart TNA.

The new NXT Champion is Joe Hendry. He won the title on the February 3rd NXT on The CW in a Ladder match. After the win, Hendry joined Bully Ray on Busted Open After Dark.

A conversation was struck up about the backend of Hendry’s time with TNA Wrestling and eventually exiting the promotion. He said he gave TNA his all. He added that he felt like he achieved the main goal there, and the only way he was going to progress was by moving on.

“I will say this: I gave being TNA World Champion everything I — I gave everything to that company that I absolutely had.” Hendry was then asked if he yearned to come to WWE, and he replied, “Absolutely. That’s the goal. Absolutely… I came to WWE because this was the dream… 

This is genuinely what it was is I felt like I had achieved the goal at TNA and I felt like in order for me to grow, it was time. It was time. It wasn’t gonna be in a year. If I can say I feel I’ve done one thing well, it’s knowing when it’s time and it was finally time for me to make the move because I felt like I’d acquired enough skills to be successful here and now I’m just acquiring more skills at NXT. It was the right time to go.”

In January 2026, Hendry made his return to TNA at the Genesis pay-per-view. He defeated Cedric Alexander and Moose in a three-way match.

If the quotes in this article are used, please credit Busted Open After Dark with an H/T to Fightful for the transcriptions.