Joe Hendry has addressed the negative reaction to his recent WWE Raw concert segment with Danhausen.
Hendry and Danhausen were featured in a concert segment on Raw in July, which received significant criticism from fans online. During a recent appearance on Busted Open via WWE Radio (see video below), Hendry spoke about the response and explained the approach he has taken since joining WWE.
“My thoughts are this, and I’ll just be completely upfront and honest about this. Like, we are all extremely passionate about what we do. And just to give you an idea here, like when I signed with WWE, I made the decision that I was going to move to Orlando. I was going to not only commit 100% to NXT, but I was going to move to Orlando. I was going to go to the classes. I was going to absorb as much knowledge as I could. I said, ‘Put me on all the local shows.’ I wanted to work all the shows that they do to contribute and to learn and to be a part of the system.
“And that is the attitude I’ve taken to WWE. And the reason I bring that up is because us as performers and everybody that works at the company, we are so passionate about this business. And the goal is, and always has been for me, to give the audience value. Right? There’s been times where I’ve been on the indies and I’ve made a music video making fun of my opponent,” Hendry said.
Hendry noted that WWE is willing to experiment with different ideas and acknowledged that not everything is going to connect with the audience. He added that he feels a responsibility to deliver because fan support played such a significant role in getting him to where he is today.
“I feel the fans have put me in this position, right? So, like we talked about WrestleMania, that was because of the fan reaction, 100%. And WrestleMania probably happened because of the reaction that I got at the Royal Rumble, and the Royal Rumble probably happened because of the reactions that I was getting with everything I was doing up to that point. So the fans have been there for me and they’ve put me in this position. So I want to give them my absolute best. So if there’s a situation where that hasn’t happened, it can be painful,” he said.
Hendry also reflected on the ups and downs of his WWE run, including previously missing out on appearing on Raw in Glasgow. At the time, Hendry felt the disappointment was one of the worst things that could happen to him, only to later find himself wrestling Randy Orton at WrestleMania.
For Hendry, the focus now is on how he responds and continues improving.
“It comes down to what your next moves are,” he said. “And I look at my goal is I just want to be as good as I can possibly be at this. So I’m willing to have some fun with it. You know, I’ve been tagged in some amazing tweets over the last couple of days. We’ve had some fun, but now I have to, like, this is the highest level. WWE is at the highest level, and the standard that we have is so high.”
Hendry continued, “It takes so much to do this at this level. And now I look at other people on the roster who are in spots I want to be in and go, ‘What do I have to do to get to that point?’ So for me, it’s just the work continues and I just move forward, and I will continue to give the audience the best I can.”
