Mark Henry’s 5 Greatest WWE Moments

We begin 2018 bidding the “World’s Strongest Man” a fond adieu, clocking out after a solid 22 years as part of the WWE. Mark Henry has slowly been winding down his career as an active competitor over the past few years. But, unlike a few veteran superstars, Henry has chosen to go out on a high, not letting himself succumb to sloppiness in the ring prior to his retirement.

With that in mind, let’s take a look back through some of his all-time greatest moments in the WWE, ranging from his popular “Hall of Pain” run with the World Heavyweight Championship, to his backstage antics with the equally beloved Mae Young.

Somebody gon’ got their ass kicked.

 

5. Mark Henry: Hero of Houston

Many imagine a veteran’s final moments to be part of WrestleMania, or an equally epic farewell match. For Mark Henry however, it was an understated part of last year’s Royal Rumble match, where he competed as a surprise entrant in front of his hometown of Houston. It seems that WWE have a habit of carting out everyone’s favourite bar of Sexual Chocolate whenever they pass through Houston (literally carted out, in the case of the 2017 Rumble), but no cameo was as epic as the 2017 Rumble match.

A well-deserved pop from his hometown supporters greeted him into the fray as he was transported down to the ring via gold cart due to a ludicrously elongated ramp. You could tell he was having a great time, hitting his usual spots and even scoring the first elimination of the match, much to the chagrin of budding cruiserweight, Jack Gallagher.

Even though Henry may not be as intimidating as he once was, he certainly made an impact as part of the Rumble, lending credit to his name. The Houston crowd’s support went a long way in making Mark Henry look like the legend he truly is, making for a lovely moment to look back on in his final appearance as an active competitor.

 

4. Mark Henry: The Strongman

It’s no secret that Henry is a real life strongman, having much success in various national and international powerlifting championship tournaments. There have been a few times throughout his WWE career that Mark Henry has shown genuine strength, making the likes of Big E and Cesaro (often considered some of the strongest wrestlers in the business) look like giant baby men.

One of the most prominent examples of this would be a time that wasn’t actually meant to happen. Yes, I’m thinking back to that time in 2006, shortly after Mark Henry returned to active duty to feud with then World Heavyweight Champion, Batista. During a cage match main event between Batista, Mysterio, and MNM, Henry made his way down to ringside in order to get the jump on the future Drax the Destroyer.

Ready to bring chaos and destruction, Mark grabbed the cage wall and yanked with all his might, only for it to stay in place. The plan was clearly for the wall to come tumbling down, so what was going on? He then made his way to a different side of the cage, perhaps the gimmicked wall was in a different location? Nope, this cage was built to stay together.

Whether it was part of a backstage rib on Henry or the fault of whoever constructed that particular cage, Henry had to find a quick-fix solution to the issue. They were broadcasting live, after all, and they couldn’t just have their monster heel give up on the wall and wait until Batista happened to leave. So, Mark Henry did what any of us would do in that situation and began to pull on the thick steel chain that was padlocked to the cage door. With a mighty roar and enough power to pull a tractor, the very real chain snapped in seconds, as a genuine look of disbelief spread across Batista’s face.

Despite the initial embarrassment of not being able to pull off the planned spot, Mark accomplished an even more impressive feat. I can’t imagine many of the current roster would be able to snap non-gimmicked steel with such ease.

Mark’s a legit badass.

 

3. Mark Henry: Handyman

This is perhaps not something any ordinary man would be proud of, but bear in mind that all WWE performers are entertainers and for them, there are no boundaries. So, when a former Pan American games competitor is pitched the idea of his character being a sex addict, who lost his virginity to his own sister at a young age; and who would then go on to have a relationship with an older, former Women’s Champion (who would then give birth to a human hand), how could he say no?

Somehow, Mark Henry and Mae Young’s love-child became a highly regarded part of his career, often cited as one of the few times Vince McMahon’s cringe-worthy humour actually came across as endearing. Stuff from the Attitude Era tends to get a free pass for being a part of happier times, and this example falls into the category of ‘so bad it’s good’. An honour it shares with the infamous Val Venis “choppy choppy your pee pee” scene.

Why is this on the list of his greatest moments, I hear you ask? Well, it’s hard to deny that Henry was a great entertainer as well as a fierce competitor. One of the biggest struggles of the hoss character is that it’s rare to find one with personality, or at least enough of one to help them survive in a world that thrives on charisma. Mark Henry was willing to not take himself too seriously and that helped him sustain himself in the strange world of WWE.

 

2. Mark Henry: World Champion

Possibly the most impressive run with the World Heavyweight Championship of the past decade was Mark Henry’s “Hall of Pain” era. Mark turned heel as part of the 2011 Draft, furiously attacking any babyface that happened to be in his way on the SmackDown roster. This path of destruction extended to members of the ringside and backstage crew, who would often be hurled off the stage or into lighting rigs. Henry called this rampage the “Hall of Pain”, a period of time which would lead him to his first and only world championship, and also produce some of the most exciting segments of 2011 not involving CM Punk.

Having put Big Show, Kane, and The Great Khali on the shelf on his way to his first title shot, Mark Henry was at his peak. He looked like the monster heel that WWE had been trying to create since 1996.

Randy Orton had just come out of a huge feud with Christian, waiting for him was the “World’s Strongest Man”, who was mid-warpath. It was the most natural title change of the time. After finishing up his programme with Orton, Henry entered a ferocious blood-feud over the title with a returning Big Show, who immediately set his sights on the world champion. Their feud climaxed at Vengeance, a match which featured the second use of the ring implosion spot in WWE, a Big Show speciality. The “Hall of Pain” had its crown jewel with this show-stealing moment.

Henry would go on to lose the championship to Big Show at the next month’s TLC PPV, who would then lose it to Daniel Bryan seconds later after a Money in the Bank cash-in. Henry would linger around the main event scene for quite some time after, occasionally flirting with the championship picture but never truly rising to prominence again after losing his world title. Despite being cut short, the “Hall of Pain” run was Henry’s best work, a period of time which I don’t think anybody would have predicted from him.

 

1. Mark Henry: The Con Artist

Despite all of that engaging heel work, the all-time greatest moment of Mark Henry happens to be his retirement; or at least his first one. Everyone remembers the awful salmon jacket and the announcement which came out of nowhere. In the build to Money in the Bank 2013, Mark Henry took to the ring in formal attire to announce something big, the crowd were as bewildered as everyone else as to what it could be. Henry was still in relatively good shape and was a constant on the main roster, so retirement wasn’t really something anyone had pegged.

But there he was, delivering an empowering, emotional speech to the fans in attendance, a speech that would be Hall of Fame worthy. It was a phenomenal moment for Mark and fans were pouring their admiration out to him, both in the arena and online. I remember that moment, not as a huge Mark Henry fan, but as an admirer of the profession and all those involved. I was fully caught up in the moment.

Henry chose to call out John Cena, the then-WWE Champion and put him over as one of his most respected colleagues. Cena retorted by handing Henry the title as a gesture of goodwill, the fans loved it and so did Henry. What a moment.

Seconds later, Henry nailed Cena with a huge World’s Strongest Slam. All of it was a total ruse. He wasn’t done yet. Quite possibly one of the best worked shoot promos of all-time, this was an example of character work that genuinely duped everyone watching. A rare feat for professional wrestlers these days.

Henry went on to feud with Cena for the next month, instantly bringing him back into relevance and proving that he could still hack it as a top heel worker.

It was incredible.

So, what did I miss? What would you put up there with the greatest moments for Mark Henry? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section and share some appreciation for the “World’s Strongest Man”.