Joe Hendry’s first match outside his training school was in the WWE, in front of legends like CM Punk and William Regal.
The Scottish wrestler didn’t start wrestling until 2013, and attended seminars held by British wrestling legend Robbie Brookside. He learned a lot from the Englishman, and the pair were happy to be reunited in NXT earlier this year.
Joe Hendry spoke about earning his WWE tryout during an episode of Talk is Jericho. He spoke to Chris Jericho, and explained how he first learned to become a professional wrestler.
“I started in 2013. The first company I really started working for and getting attention was ICW. They were a really hot promotion at the time. They were the biggest indie in the world at one point.
“But I actually had a crazy introduction to wrestling because Robbie Brookside, who is now one of the coaches at NXT, had just signed but hadn’t gone over yet. They were waiting for the visa and stuff. So Robbie was like, ‘Well, I’m going to do these training camps up in Scotland,’ and they were a week long each.”
“So I had two weeks in the ring with Robbie Brookside. That was such a phenomenal introduction into the business, and it was one of the best feelings in the world to see him in the performance center and he was like, ‘You’re here!’ It was a great moment for me.
“What’s funny though is, Robbie said to me – he went around the class, this was in 2013 – he said, ‘What do you all need to improve on?’ Everybody was like, ‘I need to improve on my arm drags, and I need to improve my promos.’ I just said, ‘Mr. Brookside, I have no experience in professional wrestling, so I need to improve in every area. But I will tell you this: I sold 800 tickets to the gig in my hometown last week, and that means something!’
Joe Hendry Earned A WWE Tryout From Robbie Brookside
Joe Hendry continued. He revealed that Robbie Brookside was impressed by him from his answer. He didn’t know why, but he sorted him a WWE tryout before he’d even had his first match.
The Scot wrestled his first match after learning to wrestle in the WWE. It was a behind-closed-door match, but legends like CM Punk, Paul Heyman and Big Show were all in attendance.
“He didn’t say anything, and he just nodded. And he gave me a tryout. He got me a WWE tryout. He just told me, ‘I don’t know what it is, but you’ve got something. Come down, meet everybody.’ That’s when I first met William Regal and stuff like that. So I felt it was very validating to be able to prove Robbie right and get back there.”
“My first match outside of my training school was in an empty arena, but it was in front of CM Punk, Paul Heyman, Fit Finlay, William Regal, Big Show, and I’ve never had a match outside my training school. I’m so glad there’s no footage of this!”
If you use any quotes from this article, please give a H/T to BritWrestling for the transcription.
