{"id":142249,"date":"2025-09-19T21:21:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T01:21:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=142249"},"modified":"2025-09-19T21:21:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T01:21:17","slug":"tnas-joe-hendry-reportedly-bound-to-wwe-starting-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/09\/19\/tnas-joe-hendry-reportedly-bound-to-wwe-starting-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"TNA’s Joe Hendry Reportedly Bound to WWE, Starting 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

That’s probably been the worst-kept secret of the year: Joe Hendry is closer than ever<\/a><\/span> to going to WWE when his TNA contract ends at the end of the year. Even before the WWE\/TNA partnership<\/a><\/span>, Hendry had been on the WWE radar. As the TNA World Champion, he has represented TNA at some of WWE’s biggest events. That’s also in WWE, but in NXT, he lost the Championship to an NXT talent.<\/p>\n

Multiple WWE and TNA sources say that Hendry is in the process of being largely phased out of TNA programming and integrated more into WWE TV. The internal expectation across people in both companies is that he will be WWE-bound on a full-time basis by the beginning of 2026.<\/p>\n

TNA President Carlos Silva confirmed that Hendry is still under a deal with TNA. WWE NXT and TNA coordinate their talent usage together as part of their partnership.<\/p>\n

Joe Hendry has become a staple of WWE NXT TV since last summer, earning more and more time on the show despite being a TNA wrestler. Of Hendry’s previous eight matches, only one has been under the TNA umbrella, a September 4 iMPACT match against Travis Williams. He even took part in the WWE Road to Clash in Paris tour, defeating The Miz in the three UK shows.<\/p>\n

WWE has continued to feature Hendry not only on\u00a0 NXT TV, but in its social media segments as well. On Wednesday, the official WWE Recruiting Instagram page<\/a><\/span> posted a reel with him discussing his favorite WWE match of all time while wearing a WWE t-shirt.<\/p>\n

From TNA World Champion to WWE “Darling”<\/h2>\n

Joe Hendry’s current success is an irony. He already worked for TNA Wrestling (then iMPACT Wrestling) in 2018 and 2019<\/a><\/span>, before spending three years in Ring of Honor. When Tony Khan acquired the company in 2022, Hendry came back<\/a><\/span> to Impact Wrestling. He quickly became the Impact Digital Media Champion<\/a><\/span> and was involved in many feuds.<\/p>\n

\n

.@joehendry<\/a> and @FrankieKazarian<\/a> set their sights on the NXT Championship as they compete in the #1 Contenders Battle Royal on @WWENXT<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Read more: https:\/\/t.co\/wjZFfDSr0H<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/ZMbEAlezd3<\/a><\/p>\n

— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) June 19, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n