Mark Henry
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| Mark Henry | |||
| |||
| Ring Names | Mark Henry | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.85 m) | ||
| Weight | 418 lbs (181 kg) | ||
| Born | June 12 1971 | ||
| Silsby, Texas | |||
| Died | |||
| Resides | New York | ||
| Billed | Silsbee, Texas | ||
| Trained by | Leo Burke Tom Prichard | ||
| Debut | September 22, 1996 | ||
| Retired | |||
Mark Jerrold Henry (June 12, 1971) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE performing on its SmackDown brand. Aside from wrestling, he is a 1996 Olympian, and winner of the 2002 Arnold Strongman Classic. Since joining the WWF/E in 1996, he has become a one-time WWE European Champion and a one-time world champion, having held the ECW Championship in 2008.
Before becoming a professional wrestler, Henry was a weightlifter, and competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, where he placed tenth in the super heavyweight division. Three years later, at the 1995 Pan American Games, Henry won a silver medal in the super heavyweight division. The following year, he became a North America, Central America, Caribbean Islands (NACACI) champion. In 1996, Henry was sponsored by the World Wrestling Federation at the 1996 Summer Olympics and was signed to a ten-year contract in professional wrestling.
Henry was trained by former Canadian professional wrestlers Stu and Bret Hart and Leo Burke. He made his television wrestling debut match in September 1996. Two years later, Henry joined the stable Nation of Domination. After the disbandment of the group, he acquired the moniker "Sexual Chocolate", which led him to participate in controversial angles. In 2000, Henry was sent to the company's developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in Louisville, Kentucky to improve his wrestling skills. That same year, he left wrestling and began focusing on weightlifting. Henry won a strongman competition, during the Arnold Classic in 2002.
In 2003, Henry returned to WWE, where he took part of the group "Thuggin' And Buggin' Enterprises", a group compiled of African Americans who worked a race angle in which they felt they were victims of racism and were being held down by the "white man". The following year, Henry tore his quadriceps muscle, and was unable to compete for over a year. Upon his return, he was briefly involved in feuds with Kurt Angle and The Undertaker, before suffering a knee injury. After it healed, he continued to feud with The Undertaker, before being moved to the ECW brand in June 2008, where he gained Tony Atlas as a manager. In June 2008, he won the ECW Championship and he held it for three months. He was traded to the Raw brand in June 2009.
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Weightlifting career
During his time in high school, Henry was a three-time state champion with state records in the squat at 832 lb (377 kg), bench press at 525 lb (238 kg) and deadlift at 815 lb (370 kg). At the Texas high school powerlifting championships in April 1990, Terry Todd, a professor of kinesiology at the University of Texas at Austin and former weightlifter, spotted Henry and persuaded him to go to Austin after he graduated to train in the Olympic style of weightlifting. Henry broke four national junior records in weightlifting after eight months of training in Olympic style weightlifting. In April 1991, he placed fourth at the United States Nationals, and finished sixth at the World Junior Weightlifting Championships in Germany two months later. In Henry's first year of competing, he broke the three junior (20 and under) American records 12 times, and became the United States' top superheavyweight, surpassing Mario Martinez. Henry was billed as the "World's Strongest Man" after he qualified for the weightlifting competition at the 1992 Summer Olympics, where he finished tenth in the super heavyweight class. Ten months before the 1992 Olympics, Henry had begun training with Dragomir Cioroslan, a bronze medalist at the 1984 Summer Olympics, who said that he had "never seen anyone with Mark's raw talent". At the 1995 Pan American Games Henry won a gold, silver and bronze medal, and a year later, he became a North America, Central America, Caribbean Islands (NACACI) champion. He also participated in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, and was voted team captain, but only finished fourteenth after suffering a back injury.
Professional wrestling career
World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment /WWE (1996-present)
Debut (1996)
After the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) sponsored Henry in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, he was signed to a ten-year contract. Trained by professional wrestler Leo Burke, his first feud in the WWF was with Jerry Lawler who had some harsh words for Henry on an episode of Monday Night Raw in March. At the pay-per-view event, SummerSlam in August 1996, Henry came to the aid of Jake Roberts who was suffering indignity at the hands of Lawler. His first television wrestling match was at In Your House: Mind Games on September 22, 1996, where he defeated Lawler.
Nation of Domination and Sexual Chocolate (1998–2002)
Henry joined the Nation of Domination faction after he brutaly attacked his tag team partener Ken Shamrock (the worlds most dangerous man). with Farooq, The Rock, The Godfather and D'Lo Brown on January 12, 1998, becoming a villain in the process. After The Rock usurped Farooq's position as leader, Henry switched loyalties to The Rock. He also competed at WrestleMania XIV in a tag team battle royal, with Brown as his partner, but they did not win. After the Nation disbanded, he engaged in a short feud with The Rock, defeating him at Judgment Day: In Your House with help from Brown, and then forming a permanent team with Brown, gaining Ivory as a manager. During the next year, Henry gave himself the nickname "Sexual Chocolate", and was involved in controversial angles with Chyna and a transvestite. During a match at the August 1999 pay-per-view, SummerSlam, between Brown and Jeff Jarrett for the WWF Intercontinental and WWF European Championships (both held at the time by Brown), Henry turned on Brown and helped Jarrett win the match and the titles. The next night, Henry was awarded the European title by Jarrett in return for his help. Henry dropped the title one month later to Brown at the Unforgiven pay-per-view.
After this, Henry turned into a fan favorite, and was seen on television romancing WWF women from Chyna to Mae Young as part of the "Sexual Chocolate" character. He feuded with Viscera during this time as part of a storyline where Viscera splashed Mae Young while she was carrying Henry's child. Young would go on to give birth to a hand. Along with this, Henry was made part of various other embarrassing and infamous storylines, including the admission that he was a sex addict.
In 2000, Henry was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) to improve his conditioning and skills. In OVW, Henry teamed with Nick Dinsmore to compete in a tournament for the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship in mid-2001. Later that year, he went on hiatus from wrestling to concentrate on weightlifting, and on February 23, 2002, he won a strongman competition, during the Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio, claiming a $75,000 Humvee as his prize.
SmackDown! and Raw (2002–2004)
Henry returned to the WWF the next month and was sent to the SmackDown! brand, where he developed an in-ring persona of performing "tests of strength" while other wrestlers took bets on the tests, but the gimmick met with little success. During this time he competed against such superstars as Chris Jericho and Christian. After being used sporadically on WWE (formerly WWF) television during 2002, as he was training for a weightlifting contest, and suffering a knee injury, Henry was sent back to OVW for more training.
In August 2003, Henry returned to WWE television on the Raw roster, where he found some success as a member of "Thuggin' And Buggin' Enterprises," a group of African Americans led by Theodore Long who worked a race angle in which they felt they were victims of racism and were being held down by the "white man". During that time, Henry was involved in a brief program with World Heavyweight Champion Goldberg when former champion, Triple H, put a bounty on Goldberg. This was followed by a brief rivalry with Shawn Michaels, before he engaged in a scripted rivalry with Booker T. After defeating Booker T twice, once in a street fight and once in a six-man tag team match, he lost to Booker T at the Armageddon pay-per-view in December 2003. At a practice session in OVW in February 2004, Henry tore his quadriceps muscle, and was out for over a year after undergoing surgery. Henry was then utilized by WWE as a public relations figure during his recovery, before returning to OVW to finish out 2005.
Return and various feuds (2005–2008)
During the December 30 episode of SmackDown!, Henry made his return to television, as he interfered in a WWE Tag Team Championship match, joining with MNM (Joey Mercury, Johnny Nitro, and Melina), to help them defeat Rey Mysterio and Batista for the championship. A week later on SmackDown!, Henry got in a confrontation with the World Heavyweight Champion, Batista, and went on to interfere in a steel cage match between MNM and the team of Mysterio and Batista, helping MNM to retain their titles. Henry then had another match with Batista at a live event where Batista received a severely torn triceps that required surgery, forcing him to vacate his title. On the January 10, 2006 episode of SmackDown!, Henry was involved in a battle royal for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship. He was finally tossed out by Kurt Angle, who won the title.
A week later, Henry received assistance from Daivari, who turned on Angle and announced that he was the manager of Henry. With Daivari at his side, Henry would face Kurt Angle for the World Heavyweight title at the 2006 Royal Rumble in January, which he lost when Angle hit him with a chair (without the referee seeing) and pinned Henry with a roll-up.
On the March 10 episode of SmackDown!, after putting Kurt Angle through a table with a diving splash, Henry was then challenged to a casket match by The Undertaker at WrestleMania 22. Henry vowed to defeat The Undertaker and end his streak at WrestleMania, but was unsuccessful in this quest as The Undertaker would defeat Henry at the event. Henry would get a rematch against the Undertaker on the April 7 episode of SmackDown!, however it ended in a no contest when Daivari announced his new client, The Great Khali, who was also making his debut. Khali then went to the ring and started to attack the Undertaker, thus ending the feud between them.
During the rest of April and May, Henry gained a pinfall victory over the World Heavyweight Champion, Rey Mysterio in a non-title match. Henry would also enter the King of the Ring tournament, in which he was defeated by Bobby Lashley in the first round. He later cost Kurt Angle his World Heavyweight Championship opportunity against Mysterio, when he jumped off the top rope and crushed Angle through a table. Henry was then challenged by Angle to face off at Judgment Day, Henry then sent a "message" to Angle by defeating Paul Burchill. At Judgment Day, Henry defeated Angle by countout. Although winning, Angle got his revenge after the match by hitting Henry with a chair and putting him through a table.
Henry later went on what was referred to as a "path of destruction", causing injuries to numerous superstars. Henry "took out" Chris Benoit and Paul Burchill on this path of destruction, and attacked Rey Mysterio and Chavo Guerrero. These events led up to a feud with the returning Batista, whom Henry had put out of action with a legitimate injury several months beforehand. When Batista returned he and Henry were scheduled to face one another at The Great American Bash in July. Weeks before that event, however, on the July 15, 2006 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, Henry was involved in a six-man tag team match with King Booker and Finlay against Batista, Rey Mysterio, and Bobby Lashley. During the match, Henry was injured, canceling the scheduled match at The Great American Bash, as Henry needed surgery. Doctors later found that Henry completely tore his patella tendon off the bone and split his patella completely in two. Henry returned on the May 11, 2007 episode of SmackDown!, after weeks of vignettes hyping his return. He attacked The Undertaker after a World Heavyweight Championship steel cage match with Batista, allowing Edge to take advantage of the situation and use his Money in the Bank contract. Henry then began a short feud with Kane, defeating him in a Lumberjack Match at One Night Stand. Shortly after, Henry made an open challenge to the SmackDown! locker room, which nobody ever accepted. In the coming weeks he faced various jobbers—wrestlers who consistently lose to make their opponents look stronger—and quickly defeated them all. On August 3, he claimed that nobody accepted the open challenge to step into the ring with him because of what he had done to The Undertaker, presenting footage of his assault on the Undertaker. The Undertaker responded over the following weeks, playing various mind games with Henry. Henry finally faced The Undertaker again at Unforgiven in September, losing to him after being given a Last Ride. Two weeks later, Henry lost a rematch to The Undertaker after The Undertaker performed a chokeslam on Henry. After a short hiatus, Henry returned to WWE programming on the October 23 episode of ECW, attacking Kane, along with The Great Khali and Big Daddy V. Henry then began teaming with Big Daddy V against Kane and CM Punk, and was briefly managed by Big Daddy V's manager, Matt Striker. At Armageddon, Henry and Big Daddy V defeated Kane and Punk. Before WrestleMania XXIV aired, Henry participated in a 24-man battle royal to determine the number one contender for the ECW Championship, but failed to win.
ECW (2008–2009)
As part of the 2008 WWE Supplemental Draft, Henry was drafted to the ECW brand. At Night of Champions, Henry defeated Kane and Big Show in a Triple Threat match to capture the ECW Championship in his debut match as an ECW superstar. Upon winning the title, it was made exclusive to the ECW brand once again. Henry's title win came nearly a full decade after he was awarded the European Championship, which was back in 1999 and the last title he held in WWE. A few weeks later, Hall of Famer Tony Atlas returned to WWE to act as Henry's manager. A month after Henry's title win, ECW General Manager, Theodore Long, unveiled a new, entirely platinum ECW Championship belt design. Henry would lose the title at Unforgiven in the Championship Scramble match to Matt Hardy.
Henry attempted to regain the championship throughout the end of 2008, including a match against Hardy at No Mercy, but was unsuccessful. Henry and Atlas then engaged in a scripted rivalry against Finlay and Hornswoggle, which included Henry losing a Belfast Brawl at Armageddon. At the start of 2009, Henry qualified for the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXV, and was involved in a series of matches with the other competitors on Raw, SmackDown, and ECW. He was unsuccessful at WrestleMania, however, as CM Punk won the match. In May, Henry began a scripted rivalry with Evan Bourne, which began after Bourne defeated Henry by countout on the May 26 episode of ECW.
Return to Raw and face turn (2009-2011)
On June 29, Henry was traded to the Raw brand, and made his redebut for the brand that night as the third opponent in a three-on-one gauntlet match against Randy Orton, which he won, turning Henry into a fan favorite in the process. In August 2009, Henry formed a tag team with Montel Vontavious Porter, and the two challenged the Unified WWE Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho and The Big Show for the titles at Breaking Point, but were unsuccessful. They stopped teaming afterwards, becoming involved in separate storylines, until the February 15, 2010 episode of Raw in which they defeated the Unified WWE Tag Team Champions The Big Show and The Miz in a non-title match. The next week they got a title match but were unsuccessful. At Extreme Rules, Henry and MVP fought for a chance to become number one contenders to the Unified WWE Tag Team Championships, but were the second team eliminated in a gauntlet match by The Big Show and The Miz. The match would be won by The Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith). On June 1, Henry was announced as the mentor of Lucky Cannon for the second season of WWE NXT. Cannon was eliminated on the August 10 episode of NXT. In September, Henry began teaming with Evan Bourne, starting at the Night of Champions pay-per-view, where they entered a Tag Team Turmoil for the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship. They made it to the final two teams, but were defeated by Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre. The team came to an end in October when Bourne suffered an injury and was taken out of action. Henry then formed a team with Yoshi Tatsu on the November 29 episode of Raw, defeating WWE Tag Team Champions Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater, after a distraction by John Cena. They received a shot at the titles the next week, in a Fatal-4-Way Elimination Tag Team match, which also included The Usos and Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov. Henry and Tatsu were the first team eliminated in the match. On the April 11 edition of Raw, Henry joined a group called The Apple, created by Santino Marella, consisting of fellow superstars Marella, Daniel Bryan, and Evan Bourne to take on The Corre in an 8 man tag team match which they lost.
SmackDown, Heel Turn and World Heavyweight Champion (2011)
On April 25, 2011, Mark Henry returned to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2011 WWE Draft. In the main event of the night, Henry attacked his teammates, John Cena and Christian, turning into a heel for the first time since June 2009. On May 27, Henry participated in a triple threat match against Sheamus and Christian to determine the number one contender for Randy Orton's World Heavyweight Championship, which was ultimately won by Sheamus. Henry then began feuding with The Big Show, attacking him before matches and backstage. On the July 1 edition of SmackDown, if Henry defeated Randy Orton, he would receive a World Heavyweight Championship match in the near future, however Orton defeated Henry via countout after being distracted by Show's entrance theme and music. As a consequence, Henry destroyed the production set.
Henry would defeat Big Show at Money in the Bank. Henry would then assault Big Show with a steel chair, injuring him. On the SmackDown following the pay-per-view, Henry would do the same thing to Kane, who competed in a match against Randy Orton moments before. Over the next few weeks, Henry would demand competition, and, after defeating local wrestler Bobby Howard on the July 29 edition of SmackDown, General Manager Theodore Long would announce to Henry he could no longer compete as no one wants to fight him. Sheamus would interrupt Long, telling him he isn't afaird of Henry, and, while face to face with Henry, slapped him. Henry would defeat Sheamus at SummerSlam by count-out.
On the August 19 edition of SmackDown, Henry won a 20-man battle royal to become number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship. A week later, guest SmackDown General Manager of the night, Bret Hart, placed Henry in a rematch with Sheamus, which resulted in Sheamus winning by count-out. After the match, Henry would deliver his World's Strongest Slam finisher to Sheamus onto the steel steps. At Night of Champions, Henry defeated Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship.
Added by Monkeysrock1092When Big Show returned to Smackdown, Henry declared that Big Show would never get a chance to get the World Heavyweight Championship. Big Show then proceeded to attack Henry and chokeslam him through a table. Big Show attempted to injure Mark Henry's leg, however Teddy Long stopped the assault and gave him a title shot against Mark Henry at Vengeance. In this heated match, Henry would go on to supersuplex the Big Show from the top rope. The ring collapsed under their combined weight, and with the both of them on the mat for a significant amount of time, similar to when Brock Lesnar superplexed Big Show off the top rope, the ref called for medics and trainers. The match resulted in a No Contest.[93] On the October 31 episode of Raw, Henry defeated CM Punk by disqualification after then-WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio sent his announcer Ricardo Rodriguez into the ring and attacked Henry.[94] Then he began a feud with Daniel Bryan after seeing him look at him the wrong way while being interviewed. Mark Henry would defeat Bryan by diqualification that night after being attacked by Big Show. Teddy Long announced that Henry will face The Big Show at Survivor Series for the World Heavyweight Championship. On the November 14 episode of Raw, Henry and Alberto Del Rio defeated CM Punk and Big Show.[95] On the November 18 episode of SmackDown, Henry promised that Big Show will be carried out of Survivor Series by paramedics and he would leave still the World Heavyweight Champion, after he severely assaulting Bryan.[96] At the 25th anniversary of Survivor Series Henry retained the World Heavyweight Championship against Big Show after a low blow that disqualified Henry. Angered by Henry's cowardice Big Show smashed Henry's ankle with a steel chair. The following SmackDown, Henry was attacked by The Big Show with a W.M.D after Henry insulted Big Show. Daniel Bryan would immidietly race out to cash in his Money in The Bank briefcase on an uncounscious Henry, where he pinned him but Theodore Long rushed out to the ring to tell Bryan the match was not legal due to the fact that Henry was not medically cleared to compete.[97] Later that night, Bryan won a Fatal-Four Way match to face Henry for the World Heavyweight Championship in a steel cage, though Henry would go later on to win that match on the live holiday edition of Super SmackDown. Henry would defeat Bryan after being attacked in his injured leg but came out on top with a "World's Strongest Slam" from the top rope and retained the World Heavyweight Championship though there were many phenomenal attempts by Bryan to exit the cage.[98] On the 5th December edition of Raw, it was announced that Henry will face Big Show at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs for the World Heavyweight Championship in a chairs match.[99] On the same night, Henry lost a no disqualification match against Zack Ryder after interference from John Cena which earned Ryder a United States Championship match against Dolph Ziggler at TLC.[100] On the December 10th edition of Smackdown, Henry sucker-punched The Big Show, which prompted Show to re-injured Henry's ankle.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Bear hug
- World's Strongest Slam (High-angle falling powerslam)
- Signature moves
- Nicknames
- "The World's Strongest Man"
- "The King of the Jungle"
- "The Texas Silverback"
- "Sexual Chocalate"
- "The Primetime Primate" - Used while teaming with Montel Vontavious Porter
- Entrance themes
- "Power" by Jim Johnston (WWF; 1998–1999)
- "Sexual Chocolate" performed by Stevan Swann and composed by Jim Johnston (WWF/WWE; 1999–2000; 2010)
- "Some Bodies Gonna Get It" by Three 6 Mafia (WWE; 2006–present)
Championships and accomplishments
Powerlifting
- All-time world former raw (unequipped) squat world record holder (430 Kilograms)
Professional wrestling
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked him #41 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2006
- World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment
Strongman athletics
- Arnold Classic
- Arnold Classic Strongest Man (2002)
Weightlifting
- Olympic Games
- Olympic Games team member (1992, 1996)
- Pan American Games
- Pan American Games Silver Medalist (1995)
- Senior American record holder in Snatch, Clean and jerk, and Total (1993–1997)
- Senior National Championship (1993, 1994, 1996)
See also
External links
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