Joe Hendry vs. Nic Nemeth has been made official.
At Bound For Glory, Joe Hendry had a golden opportunity to become the new TNA World Champion and pushed Nic Nemeth to the limit. The 36-year-old came seconds away from winning the prestigious belt until John Layfield interfered and helped Nic win the match. Hendry had to earn the right to challenge for the world title again by overcoming the odds in a four-way match against Josh Alexander, Mike Santana, and Steve Maclin.
On January 19th, Nic Nemeth vs. Joe Hendry II will headline the first TNA pay-per-view of 2025. The mystery of John Layfield still keeps the world title situation muddy as no one knows what the former WWE Champion’s true intentions are. However, Nic Nemeth understands the importance of Hendry getting his rematch and feels that if he doesn’t get the job done then it’ll be his final crack at the world title:
"I don't hate him but I'm not just gonna roll over, and if I have to take away [Joe Hendry's big moment] to solidify a legacy of the show and the company and myself [I'm gonna do it]," Nemeth said Busted Open Radio. "This is his shot and if it doesn't happen here ... he's never gonna be world champion. Or does he get that win, pull it out, hold the title high, and have that moment where everyone's talking and everyone's cheering and it's just a little bit more real than it usually is?"
Can Joe Hendry finally win the big one?
Nemeth has been holding it down as the world champion since Slammiversary. The former WWE star has held the belt for more than 150 days and successfully defended it against AJ Francis, Eddie Edwards, Moose, Josh Alexander, and Mustafa Ali. While Nemeth has his accomplishments, Hendry has done some tremendous work in 2024 and just won TNA’s Moment of the Year award.
However, Hendry’s focus is on January 19th as he’s hungry to be the next TNA World Champion.
Thus far, Joe Hendry vs. Nic Nemeth is the only match confirmed for Genesis. Since TNA is on a two week hiatus, we likely won’t get any more match announcements until the first show on January 2.