Kevin Owens was unfortunately pulled from WrestleMania 41 due to injury, and Randy Orton ended up holding an open challenge on Sunday night. When Orton made his way down to the ring it was Joe Hendry who stepped up to challenge him on the Grandest Stage of Them All.
Fightful Select reports that by the time Kevin Owens went public with his injury announcement the wheels were already in motion to inquire about Joe Hendry’s availability for WrestleMania 41.
It was noted that many people in Total Nonstop Action didn’t find out about Joe Hendry’s WrestleMania appearance until Saturday. The appearance was also kept quiet in WWE as Hendry wasn’t listed on the internal run sheets.
As of right now Joe Hendry is still signed to a contract with TNA Wrestling, but the deal is set to expire at some point over the next 12 months. Hendry has an agent now and it’s being said that WWE has maintained interest in him.
An idea was pitched for Joe Hendry to recently appear on Raw in Glasgow, but Ariel Shnerner shot it down because Hendry would have had to have taken a loss. The idea was for Hendry to be involved in a program with The Miz.
When TNA Wrestling staff and talent were asked about the length of Joe Hendry’s WrestleMania match they didn’t seem to take exception to it the same way that some people did on social media. The word is that they felt like it was more exposure for TNA Wrestling.