Joe Hendry On New Album, Passing Taylor Swift & The Beatles on iTunes, Fire Logan Paul, WWE Success
WWE Superstar and NXT Champion Joe Hendry sat down John Kiernan on Ropes N Riffs to discuss his explosive year in WWE and the release of his brand-new album Beyond Belief, which is currently making waves on music charts around the world.
From surpassing Taylor Swift and The Beatles on iTunes to explaining the method behind his viral Fire Logan Paul debut and song on Monday Night Raw, Hendry broke down his music, his title ambitions, and his philosophy on entertaining wrestling fans.
We also do a Quick Six with Joe Hendry talking about his favorite entrance themes, as well as find out what's on the playlist of Joe Hendry.
Enjoy!
Surpassing Elvis, Taylor Swift, and The Beatles on the iTunes Charts
Having previously topped charts with "I Believe in Joe Hendry," Hendry’s new record has quickly shot up the rankings.
Joe Hendry: "We were in a battle today with Elvis in the UK iTunes album charts, with Taylor Swift, with the Beatles, and now we've managed to surpass all three in the UK iTunes albums charts. We're now number five. Ariana Grande is next, and I'm hoping we can get that number one spot. We're also the number one soundtrack album for the US and the UK on iTunes as well. Often, as we saw with my previous release, when you start to trend on the iTunes charts, that can have very real implications for the mainstream radio charts as well."
The Meaning and Strategy Behind "Fire Logan Paul"
When Hendry debuted on Raw with his guitar, he wanted to guarantee he would be the most talked-about part of the broadcast.
Joe Hendry: "I believe Logan Paul should be fired. But jokes aside, I will say... I'm debuting on Raw and I have the guitar. Primarily I had kind of got over with these music videos. So it was gonna be a challenge for me, thinking like how can I be the most talked about thing on Raw? And I realized I'm gonna have to go after the biggest name on the show and our most Googled superstar is Logan Paul. So I knew I had to go after him. And you know what? Why not just call for him to be fired? And that's what happened."
Capturing Viral Moments in "Out of Nowhere"
One of the key tracks on the record, "Out of Nowhere," chronicles Hendry's rapid climb through WWE over the past year.
Joe Hendry: "Out of Nowhere is a song that describes the viral moments that I've had in WWE thus far. The first verse talks about me showing up in the Royal Rumble, it talks about me facing Randy Orton at WrestleMania, and it talks about when I made an appearance at Saturday Night's Main Event on John Cena's last match. So it talks about those three main viral moments from 2025. It was very cool to be able to try and squeeze all of that into a song and also have some fun with it as well."
"Give Joe Hendry Every Single Belt" & Chael Sonnen's Influence
Having already captured the NXT Championship, Hendry has his sights set on every title WWE has to offer.
Joe Hendry: "I managed to capture the NXT Championship. I think a lot of people would be intrigued about seeing me in the Intercontinental Title picture. One day I would love to be a world champion. I'd love to be a Tag Team champion. So it's hard to pick. I just think, you know, just give me them all. You can just hand them over. I took inspiration from Chael Sonnen in there because he was always very much, he didn't care how he won the belt, he just wanted to be the champ and I can identify with that."
Putting the Fans First & Musical Influences
While discussing how he balances humor and musicianship, Hendry noted how his perspective differs from traditional producer mindsets.
Joe Hendry: "I'm reading Rick Rubin's book at the moment, and he says the audience comes last. And I take a different perspective. Maybe it's a wrestling thing, but for me, I think the audience comes first. Ultimately, I'm trying to entertain the audience, and so I always gravitate to the ones that they enjoy. Tenacious D are a big influence for me because they are funny, but the music underpinning it is good music. That's kind of what I've been going for."
Quick Six & Personal Playlist
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Favorite Entrance Theme: "I Believe in Joe Hendry"
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Most Underrated Theme: "I Believe in Joe Hendry"
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Best Babyface Theme: "I Believe in Joe Hendry"
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Best Heel Theme: Ethan Page ("Ego")
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Non-Wrestling Song That Would Make a Great Theme: "Killing in the Name" or "Know Your Enemy" by Rage Against the Machine
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Musician Who Would Make a Great Wrestler: Andrew W.K.
What’s on the playlist of Joe Hendry?
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Favorite Band & Album: Weezer – The Blue Album
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Lo-Fi Recommendation: Nujabes
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Do you like wrestling? Do you like music and stories from the road? Join John Kiernan, wrestling entrance theme song composer, and professional musician of over 10 years for stories and interviews with your favorite wrestlers, rock stars, and personalities!
About the Host:
John Kiernan is a wrestling entrance theme song composer with over 150 themes written for wrestlers in various promotions such as NJPW, WWE, ROH, MLW, and many more. As a professional musician, a veteran in the podcasting space, an avid pro wrestling fan and wrestling personality by way of creating the soundtracks for your favorite wrestlers, John Kiernan forges his latest podcasting venture into diving into stories of music, stories from the road, and wrestling from all walks of life from your (and his) favorites of all time.
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