A few years into Joe Hendry's career, he was awarded a golden opportunity with the now-defunct WhatCulture Pro Wrestlingpromotion attheir Refuse to Lose iPPV where he took part in the main event against Kurt Angle. WWE Hall of Famers Jim Ross and Jim Cornette were on commentary and WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart was at the show as well. As big as the match was, it was under more humble circumstances with another former WWE star that was a turning point for him.
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Speaking on "Busted Open," Hendry said that wrestling Attitude Era star Scotty 2 Hotty changed his perspective towards wrestling.
"When wrestling turned around for me, like, everything changed, was when I wrestled Scotty 2 Hotty, in a brewery in Newcastle, in front of like 250-300 people. I was, like, kind of down on wrestling at the time but I just had the best time and the crowd loved it and I made the decision to, like, [say to myself] 'If it never gets bigger than this, I will still give it my best, I am committed no matter what.'"
After winning the match against Scotty 2 Hotty who now works in AEW, coaching younger talent Hendry stopped making "markers of success" in his career, using the example of needing to be in a certain promotion by a certain time or winning a championship by a certain time. By worrying less about the process, success started to come for Hendry.
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"I learned to love it in front of 50 people. Like, I learned to love it on a small scale so doing it on this scale is just like a huge, incredible bonus," Hendry said.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Busted Open" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
