I Believe in Joe Hendry and so Should Wrestling Collectors!
This past weekend at The Genesis pay per view, Joe Hendry defeated Nick Nemeth to become the newTNA Heavyweight Championship. It was the culmination of an incredible run for Joe Hendry. While the rise of Joe Hendry may seem immediate, it is actually the product of ten years of work perfecting his craft inside and outside the ring. Along with winning the world title the musician turned international wrestler star had his theme song aptly titled "I Believe in Joe Hendry” topped the streaming charts, made his NXT debut, and became the first TNA wrestler to main event a NXT premium live event. What made Hendry so unique to me was how he brought his musical background into his wrestling persona. Prior to and after his arrival to US wrestling Hendry used that background to make hilarious parody entrances that mocked his opponents. He also tapped into that talent to engineer his theme song to be as catchy and maximize crowd interaction. He’s also terrific and polished in the ring, having high quality matches with all of his opponents.
As popular as he has become, there is currently not a lot in the way of collectibles and cards in the market for Joe Hendry. Aside from custom figures, the only officially licensed Hendry action figure was a short print run figure that was part of the Mart Cardona Major Bendies line. As for trading cards, Hendry had what would be considered his rookie card released in 2023 as part of a TNA Wrestling Series 1 set of cards. The cards were made by a company called NERDS and distributed by TNA. Although his market is small it is still robust. A raw Joe Hendry card from the TNA line recently sold for a respectable $140 per130point. If you’re looking to buy a PSA 10 expect to pay much higher prices as the only ones available are selling for $1500.
As I’ve previously written about,TNA and WWE announced a multi year partnership for crossovers between the NXT brand TNA. It’s still unclear at this time if that partnership extends to collectibles like Topps cards (perhaps even a Topps now card if he makes a rumored debut at the Royal Rumble in February) and Mattel action figures. I’m hopeful it will as I would expect Joe Hendry to be an extremely popular chase card or action figure amongst fans.
WWE and TNA Announced a new Multi Year Partnership: What that Might Mean for Wrestling Collectors
One thing that is clear to me is that this is just the beginning for Joe Hendry both in the ring and for collectors. He’s proven to be an exceptional talent who may just be scratching the surface of what he’ll do and with that comes a unique opportunity for collectors to get in on the ground floor before that market accelerates. For those reasons I believe in Joe Hendry and hopefully you will too.
