Joe Hendry knows his songs and personality are a huge part of why fans connect with him. The downside, according to Hendry, is that people don’t always give his in-ring work the same credit.
While speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Hendry said wrestlers with larger-than-life characters often face tougher criticism once the bell rings because fans naturally focus on everything outside the match first.
“Thank you. I feel it is because when you are, like, a character wrestler, you’re always going to be judged more harshly for, you know, like your in-ring ability and things like that.”
Joe Hendry isn’t letting that bother him, though. Instead, he said he takes confidence from knowing he’s constantly sharing the ring with talented wrestlers who make him better every time they compete.
“But I just—to be honest with you, I take comfort in the fact that I feel really confident because I can just—you know that how you get better at wrestling is wrestling people who are better than you, wrestling people who you can learn something from. And I’m so fortunate in that all throughout my career, I’ve had the chance to work with people who I’ve been able to learn things from in real time.”
Looking back over the past few years, Hendry believes his in-ring game has improved just as much as his popularity. In fact, he thinks he’s made noticeable progress even over the last couple of months.
“And, you know, I just feel like I’ve come so far in-ring, like, since my stuff started blowing up a couple of years ago. But I even feel like I’ve come so far in a couple of months. I just—I think, like, where am I gonna be in, you know, January this year? Where am I gonna be in two years’ time? It’s exciting to me.”
Rather than worrying about criticism, Hendry said he’d rather focus on becoming a better wrestler every time he steps through the curtain. He even borrowed a mindset from The Miz that has helped him tune out the outside noise.
“And I think that’s how you kind of combat all the—like, I mean, it’s like The Miz says, ‘Block out all the noise.’ The way I’m able to block out all the noise is because if I’m criticized, it’s like, you’re criticizing me for who I was yesterday, and that person is already dead. You know, that’s kind of how I look at it.”
Hendry has never hidden the fact that he wants to become a world champion someday. If he keeps improving at the pace he believes he is, he hopes fans will eventually be talking about his matches just as much as they’re talking about his songs.
Do you think Joe Hendry’s in-ring work gets overlooked because of his character, or do you think the criticism is fair? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
