Joe Hendry has revealed that WWE originally planned for him to make his official Raw debut on the night after WrestleMania 42, one week earlier than he ultimately appeared.
Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Hendry discussed the circumstances surrounding his move to the Raw roster and revealed that he had even prepared a song specifically for his originally scheduled debut. “That’s another interesting story because I was supposed to debut the night after WrestleMania, and the song I had was the same song, but it was ‘Raw, Raw, Joe Hendry signed to Raw,’” Hendry said.
WWE ultimately announced Hendry as a Raw roster member during the April 20 episode before his debut took place the following week. Because his move had already been revealed, Hendry realized the original song would no longer work and quickly changed direction. “Then what happened was they’d announced that I was going to be on Raw the next week. Because what I was going to say something that rhymed with SmackDown, I was going say something like back down because I have signed to Raw. That was what the gag was going to be. But I think Cole had said it, and there was like a graphic. I was like, we need to pivot here and then I found out that I was going to be working with The Vision.”
That change eventually led to Hendry’s “Fire Logan Paul” material as he became involved with The Vision.
Elsewhere in the interview, Hendry shared a story highlighting Penta’s generosity during WWE’s international tour. Hendry somehow traveled without two essential pieces of his recognizable wardrobe — his blue shirt and white trousers.
He initially attempted to find replacements in Argentina while dealing with two black eyes and a language barrier. “It’s funny you mention that, because I remember I had an unfortunate situation where, for whatever reason. If you’re me, what’s the couple of things you don’t want to leave home without? It’s the blue shirt and the white trousers, which for some reason didn’t make it into my case. I’m panicking,” Hendry recalled.
After struggling to find suitable replacements, Hendry asked Penta for help ahead of WWE’s trip to Mexico. “So I knew Penta was my guy. So I knew we were going to Mexico, and I just said, ‘I am stuck. Can you help me? Where can I go in Mexico?’ He says, ‘It’s taken care of.’”
When Hendry arrived at the venue, he discovered Penta and his family had already found everything he needed. “I’m telling you, I got to that venue, and he had this. It’s better than the ones I’m using on TV. Had this beautiful blue shirt, perfect. He’s a fashionable guy. Beautiful white trousers. He actually went out of his way, his daughter, she went out and got the stuff for me.”
Hendry attempted to reimburse Penta, but the offer was refused. “Then I said, ‘How much did it cost?’ And he went, ‘No, it’s a gift from my family.’ I just wanted to mention that because that’s just like one example of some of the great people that we have in our locker room.”
Hendry went on to praise Penta as both a performer and a person, pointing to his recent match against Roman Reigns on Raw. “They just had that unbelievable match on Raw, him and Roman. I just wanted to take a second to say that about Penta. Fantastic performer, great human being, much like a lot of people in our locker room.”
The Raw star also discussed his upcoming album, which is scheduled for release on October 5. One track, titled “Give Joe Hendry Every Single Belt (Right Now),” features Hendry covered in championship belts.
Despite how unusual the image may appear, Hendry stressed that it was not created using artificial intelligence. “So, believe it or not, that is not AI. I’m holding all the belts. I am holding all the belts, we don’t know the exact combined weight, but it’s somewhere between two and 300 pounds, because they’re heavy belts, and I’ve been wearing 15 of them or something like that.”
Hendry said he remained covered in the belts for approximately 15 to 20 minutes during the shoot. “So when you see the footage, I’m dying. I had all those belts on for probably like 15-20 minutes. That was tough, man. I burned some calories that day.”
