Joe Hendry found training under WWE's CM Punk and the previous AEW name

WWE

TNA World Champion Joe Hendry is trained under the WWE Raw Star CM Punk and the former AEW name.

They haven’t met in the WWE Ring yet, but since the TNA World Champion began appearing in WWE Programming, Joe Hendry and CM Punk are pretty close.

He entered the 2025 Men’s Royal Rumble and competed for cards at the WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas.

Visiting Instagram, Hendry shared photos of himself, Punk and former AEW backstage producer Ace Steel.

Learn from the best 👏

Steel and Hendry are currently working together at TNA. This will take on the role of producers in the promotion in 2024.

Hendry wasn’t the only one to visit the foundation. Irish independent wrestler LJ Cleary (also known as the actual fiancé of Lyla Valkyria), also shared photos on Instagram alongside Punk.

In his caption in the post, Cleary described the opportunity as “honor,” while praised Steel’s school:

It’s super cool to win a training award with @CMPunk on @TheFoundationOfProwRestling last night! Thank you for your knowledge!

@AcesofSteel offers one of the absolute best environments I’ve been involved in to produce the best quality professional wrestlers!

BITW🤝MVP

Hendry will defend the TNA World Championship against Trick Williams this Sunday at WWE Battlegrounds in Tampa, Florida.

Cleary attended the WWE Backlash in St. Louis on May 10th, and was portrayed as she saw Lila Valkyria defending the women’s Intercontinental Championship against Becky Lynch.

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Joe Hendry and LJ Cleary were trained at CM Punk at a foundation run by Ace Steel! pic.twitter.com/9ig1khnv6w
– wrestletalk (@wrestletalk_tv) May 22, 2025