The Hearts social media account has made a humorous attempt to bring two of Scotland’s biggest wrestling stars face-to-face in the ring.
The Scottish Premiership club responded to an X post featuring new TNA World Champion Joe Hendry who is pictured with WWE legends The Hardy Boyz. The Edinburgh-born grappler was celebrating after he became a world champion for the first time in his career on Sunday.
The 36-year-old defeated former champion Nic Nemeth to win the illustrious title, following in the footsteps of some of wrestling’s greatest names. Former Olympic champion and WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle, WCW legend Sting, hardcore wrestling icon Mick Foley and Ayr-born wrestler Drew McIntyre have all had the belt round their waist.
The title is back in the hands of a Scottish wrestler for the second time in its history almost nine years after McIntyre beat Matt Hardy at an event in Orlando, Florida in March 2016. Speaking after the match on Sunday night, an emotional Hendry told the crowd: “You are the lifeblood of TNA wrestling. You’ve watched the growth of this company, and the awesome thing about it is we are all doing it together. I want you all to know, I’m so proud to be a part of this locker room.
“It is the greatest honour and privilege to share a locker room with the individuals in the back, and you have no idea how many of them have gone out of their way to help me get to where I wanted to do, to selflessly give me the help, the advice, the guidance, the mentorship. None of this happens without the colleagues and staff in the back. Thank you so much to every single one of you.”
And Heart of Midlothian were quick to congratulate the Scot, who wrote “Anything is possible, when you believe” next to his X post. Responding, the football club said: “A PHM and now the @ThisIsTNA world champion. Congratulations @joehendry! Will we see an East of Scotland vs West of Scotland showdown with @DMcIntyreWWE soon? We heard there’s a @WWE Royal Rumble coming up…”
A match up between Drew McIntyre and Joe Hendry, who has featured on WWE shows in the past, would send Scottish wrestling fans into orbit. WWE and TNA announced a multi-year partnership on January 16m shortly before Hendry won the TNA World Championship at TNA Genesis. Because of this a match up is not totally out of the question.
McIntyre is set to take part in the Royal Rumble on February 1, with Joe Hendry refusing to rule out a late call up. Speaking on Behind The Turnbuckle, he said: “Anything is possible. But ultimately, here’s the difference. Before, I was a wrestler, but now I’m the TNA Champion, so I have a duty to do what’s best for TNA Wrestling. So hey, if TNA pick up the phone and they tell me, ‘You’ve gotta go,’ it doesn’t matter where they tell me to go, I’m gonna go, and wherever it is, I’ll represent the company well.“