Mark Henry

Oct 2, 2009 - by Jamie Cruickshank

photo credit: World Wrestling Entertainment

photo credit: World Wrestling Entertainment

Real name: Mark Henry
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 331 lbs.
Date of birth: June 12, 1971
Hometown: Silsbee, TX
Pro debut: September 22, 1996
Trained by: Leo Burke & Tom Pritchard
Finishing move: World’s Strongest Slam

Biography

– Henry weighed in at 366 lbs. at the 1992 Olympics, which made him the largest weightlifter in the history of the Olympic Games.
– Henry qualified for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, where he finished tenth in the superheavyweight class.
– At the 1995 Pan American Games, Henry won a gold, silver, and bronze metal.
– In 1996, Mark became a NACACI (North America, Central America, Caribbean Islands) champion.
– According to reports, Henry signed a lucrative 10 year/$10 million contract with the World Wrestling Federation.
– At In Your House X, Henry defeated Jerry “The King” Lawler on September 22, 1996.
– Henry joined Faarooq, D-Lo Brown, Rocky Maivia, and Kama Mustafa (The Godfather) in the Nation of Domination.
– Brown and Henry competed in the 15-team battle Royal at Wrestlemania XIV.
– The Nation of Domination eventually turned on leader Faarooq, and recognized The Rock as their new leader.
– The new Nation added Owen Hart to their clique.
– At the 1998 Fully Loaded PPV, Henry defeated Vader.
– Henry aided Brown’s victory over Gangrel at the 1998 Breakdown.
– Henry pinned The Rock at the 1998 Judgment Day PPV when Brown held down Maivia’s feet.
– When the Nation finally dissolved, Brown and Henry continued as a tag team. Brown introduced Ivory as their valet.
– Henry became obsessed with Chyna, which led to a controversial angle with a transvestite named “Sammy.”
– During a short-lived feud with the Pretty Mean Sisters (PMS), Henry developed the “sexual chocolate” persona.
– Henry turned on Brown at the 1999 Summerslam, clocking his former tag team partner with Jeff Jarrett’s guitar.
– As a reward for his betrayal of Brown, Jarrett awarded the European title to Henry the next night on “Raw.”
– At the 1999 Survivor Series, Henry, Val Venis, Gangrel, and Steve Blackman defeated Davey Boy Smith and the Mean Street Posse.
– Henry later became linked to Mae Young. Henry covered up Young after she revealed her “puppies” at the 2000 Royal Rumble.
– With Young in his corner, Henry defeated Viscera at the 2000 No Way Out PPV in Hartford, CT.
– A short time later, Henry was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling, as the WWE struggled to create a new story line for him.
– At the 2001 Brian Pillman Memorial show in Cincinnati, OH, Henry defeated Hugh Morrus.
– At the end of 2001, Henry took time off from wrestling to train for the Arnold Schwarzenegger Strongest Man Contest.
– On February 23, 2002, Henry won the “World’s Strongest Man” competition in Columbus, OH, claiming a $75,000 humvee as his first prize.
– On the March 25, 2002 edition of “Raw,” Henry was drafted by Vince McMahon to be apart of the Smackdown roster.
– At the 2003 Survivor Series, Team Bischoff (Henry, Randy Orton, Scott Steiner, Christian, and Chris Jericho) defeated Team Austin (Booker T, Shawn Michaels, Rob Van Dam, and the Dudley Boyz).
– On July 18, 2006, in Birmingham, AL, Dr. James Andrews performed surgery on Henry to repair the knee injury Henry suffered in a Six-Man Tag Team Match at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Henry tore his patella tendon completely off the bone, and also split his patella (kneecap) completely in two.
– At One Night Stand ’07, Henry defeated Kane in a “lumberjack” match.
– At Armageddon ’07, Henry and Big Daddy V defeated ECW Champion CM Punk and Kane.
– Henry was drafted to the ECW roster in the 2008 Supplemental draft on June 25, 2008.
– Four days later in Dallas, TX, Henry defeated Kane and The Big Show to capture the ECW title.
– At the Great American Bash ’08, Henry (with new manager Tony Atlas) defeated Tommy Dreamer to retain ECW title.
– At the 2008 Survivor Series, Team Orton (Orton, Shelton Benjamin, William Regal, Cody Rhodes, and Henry) defeated Team Batista (Batista, CM Punk, Kofi Kingston, Matt Hardy, and R-Truth).
– On June 29, 2009, Henry was traded to Raw.
– On April 25, 2011, Henry was traded to Smackdown.
– At Money in the Bank ’11, Henry defeated The Big Show.
– Henry defeated Randy Orton at the 2011 Night of Champions in Buffalo, NY to capture the World Heavyweight championship.
– Henry defeated Orton in a Hell in a Cell match at HIAC ’11 to retain the World title.
– At Wrestlemania 28, Team Johnny (David Otunga (captain), Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, The Miz, and Drew McIntyre) defeated Team Teddy (Santino Marella (captain), R-Truth, Kofi Kingston, Zack Ryder, The Great Khali, and Booker T).
– At Wrestlemania 29, Henry defeated Ryback.
– At Survivor Series ’13, Henry defeated Ryback.
– In September 2014, Henry began a short feud with Rusev.
– In November 2014, Henry turned heel on The Big Show.
– At Survivor Series ’14, Henry was part of Team Authority as they lost to Team Cena. Henry was eliminated by Show only seconds into the match.
– In a dark match prior to WWE’s Live MSG Special, Henry defeated Brad Maddox
– On the Royal Rumble ’16 pre-show, Henry & Jack Swagger defeated Darren Young & Damien Sandow, The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray & D-Von) and The Ascension (Konnor & Viktor) to gain entry to the Rumble Match
– In a dark match prior to WWE Roadblock, Henry defeated Randy Sharp
– In the 2016 WWE draft, Henry was allocated to Raw
– On April 6, 2018, Henry was inducted into the WWE hall of fame. During his induction speech, he revealed that he had now fully retired from in-ring competition
– Henry made a one-night return to action at The Greatest Royal Rumble, but was eliminated after only 3 minutes
– Henry made his AEW debut at Double or Nothing ’21. He would work as an announcer and coach for the company

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