If you’ve spent any amount of time browsing social media the past month or so, there’s a good chance you’ve seen Joe Hendry’s smiling face or heard his viral, chart-topping entrance theme, “I Believe in Joe Hendry.” The song, which has taken the world by storm (both wrestling and non-wrestling), has turned the Scottish TNA wrestler into one of the most recognizable names in the business today, and we might have to thank a certain legend with a history of putting out banger themes and game-changing matches: The Rock.
When taking a break from his busy schedule, which seems to get more and more hectic with each passing week with BBC and NME interviews, Hendry sat down with me for a conversation that touched on all manner of topics, including how The Rock’s “Hollywood Rock” theme (the heel persona adopted by the wrestler-turned-actor after returning from acting in the early 2000s) inspired “I Believe in Joe Hendry,” stating:
So, my favorite wrestling song of all time, I think is probably the ‘Hollywood Rock’ theme. So that was a big influence on me. You'll notice my song, ‘I Believe in Joe Hendry,’ splits into two sections: there's a faster bit and there's a slower bit. And the slower bit is influenced by that theme song and the Jim Johnston guitar solo.
For those who aren’t aware, Jim Johnston was WWE’s in-house composer for the better part of three decades, and during that time, he crafted legendary entrance themes for “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Bret “The Hitman” Hart, Randy Orton, and The Undertaker, to name a few. That said, it’s easy to imagine how Hendry would be influenced by Johnston’s work, especially with the “Hollywood Rock” theme.
I’ve been listening to the tracks quite a bit ever since Hendry let out that little nugget of information, and ever since, I’ve been picking up on all kinds of similarities. Sonically, there’s a lot in common with the way a guitar solo (played by the wrestler himself in the “I Believe in Joe Hendry” track) breaks them up, the tempo shifts, and the addictive earworm quality found in both.
Like The Rock, who put in years of work before he finally hit it big and became a beloved WWE figure as well as a massive box office draw, Hendry has worked his tail off the past decade or so to get where he is, both as a wrestler and a musician. In our conversation, the musician-turned-wrestler said the breakout success has been both “vindicating” and “rewarding,” stating:
I was a musician for 10 years before I was a wrestler and never had any success like this. So it's actually been quite vindicating. It's validated everything that I thought to be true about my ability to write songs. So that was very rewarding in that regard.
Will Hendry go off and become not only one of the biggest stories in wrestling but also a major crossover star and appear in great action movies at some point in the future? I mean, there’s no reason to doubt the guy who seems to have never counted himself out or given up on his dreams. Like he says in his viral song, “I believe in Joe Hendry.”
We’ll have to wait and see what the future holds for Joe Hendry. For now, you can check him out when TNA Impact airs Thursday nights on AXS TV or at the company’s upcoming events, Against All Odds on June 14th and Slammiversary on July 20th.
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Philip Sledge
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Philip grew up in Louisiana (not New Orleans) before moving to St. Louis after graduating from Louisiana State University-Shreveport. When he's not writing about movies or television, Philip can be found being chased by his three kids, telling his dogs to stop barking at the mailman, or chatting about professional wrestling to his wife. Writing gigs with school newspapers, multiple daily newspapers, and other varied job experiences led him to this point where he actually gets to write about movies, shows, wrestling, and documentaries (which is a huge win in his eyes). If the stars properly align, he will talk about For Love Of The Game being the best baseball movie of all time.
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