The TNA And NXT Partnership Is Expected To Continue And Ramp Up
TNA and WWE NXT have started a partnership that has led to several TNA stars appearing on NXT TV. Of course, Jordynne Grace is still the only TNA star to appear on an NXT PLE so far. However, TNA and NXT planned to really ramp up their partnership after the success of Grace’s appearance. For their part, NXT sent Tatum Paxley to TNA to be a surprise challenger for Grace’s TNA Knockouts Championship recently.
WWE has also entered a partnership with Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan. Well, technically they entered a deal with CyberFight, the parent company of both NOAH and DDT Pro. This led to sending AJ Styles over to NOAH for a match in July. The same night, Iyo Sky will be sent to wrestle at a Dream Star Fighting Marigold show in Japan. This means WWE is truly opening the infamous “forbidden door.”
The deal with TNA Wrestling is big, but the deal is currently only for TNA to work with NXT. It really helps both brands. Since NXT is where a lot of WWE Superstars get their start anyway, most TNA talent that might get signed by WWE would go here anyway. This offers a speedrun for those who WWE does sign from TNA in the future, possibly.
TNA AND NXT PARTNERSHIP EXPECTED TO RAMP UP
The TNA and NXT partnership is expected to continue for a while. We’re not sure how long it’ll go for, but so far both companies are very happy with the results it has produced. TNA has been pretty open to letting WWE use anyone that they request. Other times, they’ll ask WWE to use specific people. Something like this happened on NXT this week, for example.
Shawn Michaels, booker of NXT programming, wanted to use Joe Hendry. We cannot blame him, as Hendry has started to become a big deal in professional wrestling as of late. However, Hendry is also currently involved in a rivalry with Frankie Kazarian. Due to this, TNA essentially allowed Hendry to show up as long as WWE would also use Kazarian.
The cool part in all of this is that WWE will use Hendry much more. They allowed Hendry to come out pretty much right as the show began, where he cut a good promo. He was taking part in the Battle Royal to determine Trick Williams’ next challenger for the NXT Championship. Hendry proceeded to pretty much tell everyone in the ring he was better than them, including Kazarian who was also taking part in the match.
HENDRY EXIT:
Naturally, it makes logical sense to see Hendry as a problem. Not only is he a TNA guy trying to come in and get a shot at the richest prize in NXT, but he just verbally attacked the NXT locker room. This led to Hendry being attacked by everyone in the match and being thrown out first. However, the person credited with eliminating him was Kazarian. Sure, others attacked but it was Kaz that ultimately removed his fellow TNA brethren.
The crowd hated it and proceeded to boo while shouting “Bull****” for a few minutes.
Meanwhile, Kazarian would last until the Final Four in the match, which was a very respectable performance. That said, Hendry would go to the back and have a small interaction with Shawn Michaels. There, Hendry pretty much told us that he’s coming back. He looked at the camera and said: “Joe Hendry can show up any time, anywhere, on any show that he wants.”
That said, according to various sources, WWE was planning to use Hendry more soon. TNA was happy with WWE helping them continue the Kaz/Hendry storyline as well.
JOE HENDRY DEBUT NUMBERS
Speaking of Joe Hendry, TNA and NXT were quite pleased with how his performance went down. Again, WWE had already made plans to use him more. However, Shawn Michaels might end up giving him more high-profile matches and storylines.
Hendry’s debut was able to draw in 8.6 million views on WWE’s official X/Twitter account. This equals the Wyatt Sicks debut on RAW. While the number might be around 8.6 million for both (as of this writing), Hendry’s debut drew in 7.7 million of that within 24 hours. The Wyatt Sicks debut on RAW had another entire day to reach where it is currently. That does not include the backstage segment with Michaels, which reached 1.4 million on X/Twitter.
We’re also not accounting for those who uploaded the debut on their own account.
Metaverse numbers (Facebook, Instagram, Threads & WhatsApp) were also good for Hendry, as well as YouTube numbers. In every metric, Joe Hendry’s debut on NXT this week had more viewership than the Wyatt Sicks debut. The best part is that WWE was pleased with the Wyatt numbers, as they were considered to be fantastic and expected. They did not expect Hendry to draw in these numbers.
In fact, this debut has drawn the most viewership for any single segment since WrestleMania.
Triple H & Shawn Michaels were well aware of his popularity, but no one in WWE expected his debut to get as much attention as it has. This tells us that WWE will most certainly try to use Hendry in a bigger way.
THE BOOKING OF THE TNA AND NXT PARTNERSHIP
The thing that many are wondering about is how far TNA and NXT will go with this. As of now, WWE might love some TNA stars but they are not open to the idea of anyone winning any of the NXT Titles. The same can be said for TNA.
Fightful reported that Shawn Michaels is open to anyone being a number-one contender, but he won’t make just anyone a champion. Michaels “may” allow a TNA wrestler to win a title in NXT. However, this might only take place if they have that person under a specific appearance deal, a lot like they initially did with Jordynne Grace. If WWE allows this to happen, then it’s very likely that TNA will allow the same.
This might be a fun way to lead into some sort of fun TNA and NXT war. Most feel that this is all leading to a fun “Worlds Collide” PLE. Others believe WWE will stretch this out to the Fall, where we could see a War Games match with Team NXT vs Team TNA.
Both would be cool to see, so either would work. However, doing both would more than likely be the best outcome as everyone really wins from something like that.
