Below are a couple of top WWE, TNA, & AEW news stories of the day, featuring Joe Hendry & Jim Johnston.
• Canceled Plan For Joe Hendry On WWE RAW Revealed
A potential RAW storyline for TNA World Champion Joe Hendry was reportedly in the works before internal disagreements derailed the plan.
According to Fightful Select, WWE had considered bringing Hendry to RAW for a storyline that would have led to a feud with The Miz. However, the angle was ultimately scrapped following creative pushback from within TNA.
The report notes that Ariel Shnerer, then TNA’s Senior Vice President of Content, Distribution and Marketing, objected to the creative direction of the proposed storyline — specifically the plan for Hendry to lose. This disagreement led WWE to pivot away from Hendry and instead pursue a similar storyline using Ethan Page.
The incident reportedly played a part in WWE’s growing frustrations with Shnerer. He was eventually let go from TNA, with the creative dispute surrounding Hendry cited as one of several factors contributing to his dismissal.
Additionally, Fightful noted that some NXT talent had previously asked that Shnerer not be present in their locker room. While there were no personal issues reported, the wrestlers expressed that they preferred only active talent in that space.
Also Read: Joe Hendry Wants To Finish His 20-Year-Old Story With John Cena
• AEW Has No Interest In Legendary WWE Name
Jim Johnston, the iconic composer behind some of WWE’s most memorable entrance themes, revealed that he attempted to work with AEW — but received no interest in return. Johnston worked for the WWF/E for over three decades before his release in 2017.
Appearing on Conversations with Conrad, Johnston shared that he reached out to All Elite Wrestling offering to create themes for their talent, though he’s unsure if his message ever made it to the right people.
“I actually approached AEW at one point to write some themes for them, with no interest,” Johnston said. “Now the way I approached [it], it’s very possible the people in charge never got that memo. I’d be happy to write some themes for them. I’d be happy to write some themes for WWE, but I would never want to get as immersed as I was.”
Despite being absent from the wrestling world since his WWE departure, Johnston confirmed he still follows the product — and he’s not impressed with the current state of entrance music in either WWE or AEW. In fact, he finds much of today’s theme music lacking the character-driven storytelling that once defined the genre.
“What does this music have to do with anything?” Johnston asked. “We’ve gone from a time when you could be cooking in the kitchen, and the TV is two rooms away, and you could tell who’s coming out to the ring. And now it’s noise to me. I don’t understand how did that transition happen where it seemed to just get down to the pure, noisy spectacle of it all, and we kind of lost that magic of, it’s all about character and storyline.”
