New WWE-TNA Deal Makes Major Royal Rumble Surprise More Likely

Summary

  • The WWE and TNA partnership allows stars to appear on each other’s weekly shows and PPVs.
  • Potential for TNA stars like Joe Hendry to make surprise appearances at WWE’s biggest PLEs, starting with the 2025 Royal Rumble.
  • Other TNA stars like Jordynne Grace have already appeared on NXT, along with NXT talents on TNA programming.

On Thursday, the WWE
announced on Thursday, January 16th, that it has struck a monumental multi-year deal with TNA that will allow cross-promotion among WWE NXT
superstars and TNA wrestlers to appear on weekly WWE and TNA programming. This includes WWE Premium Live Events and TNA Pay-Per-Views. This remarkable deal should give NXT and TNA stars more exposure and expand their opportunities to work with a myriad of talent from both brands.

Some TNA talent have already appeared on NXT television and PLEs in 2024. Likewise, some NXT superstars also performed on TNA. This new deal should open up more of these instances. This could even expand into the main roster PLEs.

“This historic relationship demonstrates that collaboration and competition do not have to be mutually exclusive. Our partnership allows the TNA Wrestling brand and its incredible athletes to reach a significantly wider audience, while giving WWE and NXT stars an opportunity to cross the line and gain valuable experience, as they join forces with one of the most talented rosters in professional wrestling today.” – Ariel Shnerer, Senior Vice President of Content & Distribution for TNA Wrestling and Anthem Sports & Entertainment

The timing of this agreement could not have come at a better time. The 2025 Royal Rumble
PLE is on the horizon. The 30-man match is typically filled with surprise returns and entrances. Thanks to this new WWE-TNA deal, WWE fans only need to say his name — and he could very well appear at the Royal Rumble.

Say His Name…

He might just appear

Joe Hendry
Credit: WWE

Over the past few months, wrestling fans have already begun hyping up Joe Hendry to be a surprise entrant in the 2025 Men’s Royal Rumble match, which is already incredibly stacked. Adding Hendry into the mix will only make it bigger. Hendry blew up in popularity in 2024 largely because of his catchy and viral entrance theme, which he composed and sang himself.

He is currently signed to TNA. But he has made multiple appearances on NXT. Hendry made his NXT in-ring debut on June 18 as a participant in the 25-man battle royal to determine the No. 1 contender for the NXT Championship. The Scottish superstar also challenged then-champion Ethan Page at NXT No Mercy for the NXT Championship.

Other TNA Stars to Appear in NXT

And vice versa

Jordynn Grace
Credit: WWE

Apart from Joe Hendry, Former TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace also made multiple appearances on NXT television. She challenged Roxanne Perez for the NXT Women’s Championship at NXT Battleground. She also held an open challenge for the TNA Knockouts World Championship on the September 10 episode of NXT, which Sol Ruca answered. Meanwhile, some NXT talent has also appeared on TNA television. These include Wes Lee, Dante Chen, Tatum Paxley, and Wendy Choo, among others.

This deal could also potentially open up the possibility of current TNA stars who were formerly with WWE to re-appear on the Stamford-based promotion. TNA’s current World Champion is Nick Nemeth, who performed in the WWE as Dolph Ziggler. Ziggler was once an NXT Champion as well. Likewise, the Hardy Boyz are back with TNA and are currently the TNA World Tag Team Champions. If the stars align, the legendary tag team could make a WWE appearance in the not-so-distant future.

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