Hall of Pain Becomes Hall of Fame

   The news broke out that Mark Henry will be the next inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame.  I can't tell you how excited I am and how deserving he is.  It's unfortunate that he peaked as a main event performer very late in his career but overall he had some memorable moments.  He made us laugh, he made us cry, he was a dominant presence, and was a professional all the way.  Not to mention, he represented the United States of America in the 1996 Olympics.  He is a great athlete and performer and since he had a very quiet retirement from the ring, along with this announcement, it felt right to talk about how much this means to WWE and its fans.

   Mark Henry made his first appearance on WWE television in early 1996.  After being ridiculed by Jerry "The King" Lawler, Henry had enough and press slammed Lawler. That Summer, he competed as a power lifter in the Olympics and was quickly signed to a WWE contract. He debuted at Unforgiven in September and defeated Lawler.  Some minor injuries early on stalled his momentum a bit but he impressed many with his incredible power.  He returned a year later recharged and ready to go, as a regular fixture on WWE programming.

   In late 1997, it seemed that The Rock was in the midst of overthrowing Faarooq as the leader of the Nation of Domination.  Behind Faarooq's back, The Rock chose Mark Henry as the next member of The Nation in January of 1998. Henry fashioned his wrestling gear to that of The Nation and became a very loyal member, often teaming with fellow Nation member D-Lo Brown.  After The Nation was disbanded, Henry defeated The Rock at Judgment Day with help from D-Lo and they became a full time team.  Heading into 1999, they gained Ivory as their manager.

 It was around this time that Henry thought of himself as quite the lady's man.  He began referring to himself as "Sexual Chocolate.," as his comedic side began to appear.  His singlet changed to look like a chocolate bar.  He would actively flirt with Chyna, as he had a crush on her and was trying to gain a girlfriend.  Chyna appeared disgusted by Henry at first but warmed up to him after a bar fight.  Henry would often find himself in embarrassing shenanigans, such as discovering that the woman he was with one night was actually a transvestite.  Needless to say, it made for entertaining television.   At  that year's SummerSlam, Henry turned on his partner D-Lo Brown, costing him both the Intercontinental and European Championships to Jeff Jarrett.  As a reward, Jarrett gave Henry the European Title.  

  After trying to make up with D-Lo, Henry then revealed that he was a sex addict.  He went to sex therapy, revealing all of his life stories.   His vulnerability led the fans back to his side.  It was at this time that he developed a romantic relationship with 76-year-old Mae Young, as was shown to the world on "GTV."  Not long after, it was revealed that Young was pregnant. However, after a splash from Viscera, Young was rushed to an emergency room where she was to give birth prematurely.  What came out was a hand.  What can I say?  It was the Attitude Era!

  In 2000, Henry was sent down to WWE's devlopmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) to improve on his conditioning.  He became more focused and entered the Arnold Classic in 2001, winning several strongman competitions, and even breaking a world record. When he returned to WWE television in 2002 on the Smackdown brand, a gimmick was created based on his strength.  He would compete in feats of strength for the amusement of the other wrestlers, some of whom started taking bets on him.  During the year when training for a weightlifting contest, he injured his knee and went back to OVW to heal and train.  

   Henry returned in August of 2003 alongside Teddy Long's group "Thuggin' and Buggin' Enterprises."  This was a group that often cited racism as to why they were not getting opportunities.  Henry tried to cash in the bounty Triple H placed on Goldberg. After that, Henry had feuds with superstars such as Shawn Michaels and Booker T.  In early 2004, Henry tore his quad and went back yet again to OVW. During his time away from the ring, he was used as a pubic relations figure to WWE.

   Upon his return at the end of 2005, Henry wreaked havoc on the Smackdown locker room, decimating anyone in his way, including Rey Misterio and World Heavyweight Champion Batista.  When Batista was forced to relinquish the Championship due to injury, a battle royal was created to determine a new Champion. Henry didn't win, as he was last eliminated by Kurt Angle.  Shortly after, Angle's manager Daivari turned on him and joined Henry.  Henry got his first shot at a World Title when he challenged Angle at the 2006 Royal Rumble. Henry then got his ultimate WrestleMania moment when he attacked and challenged the Undertaker.  The Undertaker defeated Henry in a Casket Match.  During a rematch, The Great Khali debuted and attacked the Undertaker, allowing Henry to move on.

   Henry went on a path of destruction in 2007, attacking anyone and everyone.  He feuded with Bobby Lashley, Batista, and the Undertaker. During the 2008 Draft, Henry was drafted to the ECW brand.  At Night of Champions, he defeated Kane and the Big Show to become the ECW Champion.  Henry then unveiled the legendary Tony Atlas as his new manager. Henry lost the Title a few months later to Matt Hardy. He then got into a feud with Evan Bourne and remained on the ECW brand until 2009 when he was drafted to Raw.

    Henry defeated the faction Legacy in a Gauntlet Match, last pinning leader and WWE Champion Randy Orton, becoming a fan favorite again.  Henry then went on to form a tag team with MVP in August of 2009, naming themselves the World's Strongest Team.  Despite never winning the Tag Team Titles, they remained a team until May of 2010.  On the second season of NXT, Henry was the pro for rookie Lucky Cannon.  Henry then formed a team with former rival Evan Bourne until Bourne's injury took him out of action.  Henry then teamed with Yoshi Tatsu.


   In April of 2011, Henry was drafted back to Smackdown.  He soon turned heel again when he attacked Christian and John Cena. After a lengthy feud with the Big Show, Henry took him out by crushing his leg with a chair.  Henry then declared he entered Big Show into the "Hall of Pain."  He then started inducting several others into the "Hall of Pain," including Kane, Vladimir Koslov, and the Great Khali.  One man finally stood up to Henry and that was Sheamus.  The two men fought at SummerSlam.  Henry won the match by count out when he slammed Sheamus through the ring barricade.  After winning a Battle Royal, Henry earned himself a shot at the World Title.  At Night of Champions, Henry defeated Randy Orton, winning his first World Heavyweight Championship.

   In October of 2011, the Big Show returned with vengeance against Henry.  During a match, Henry super plexed the Big Show off the top rope and the ring imploded, similar to when Show did the same with Brock Lesnar years earlier.  At TLC, the Big Show finally defeated Henry for the World Heavyweight Title, only for Daniel Bryan to cash in his "Money In the Bank" to defeat Show for the Title.  Due to a previous feud with Bryan, Henry was involved with him as well as the Big Show.  The three would settle things in a Triple Threat Steel Cage match at the 2012 Royal Rumble.  Bryan somehow retained the Title against the two behemoths.  Henry was outraged and physically assaulted General Manager Teddy Long.  Henry then took time off to have possible career-threatening surgery.  Upon his return in early 2013, Henry started a feud with Ryback.  Henry defeated Ryback at WrestleMania when he held onto the ropes during Ryback's attempt at his finisher Shell Shocked.  However, after the match, Ryback delivered the move successfully.

   And the Oscar goes to...In June of 2013, Mark Henry came to the ring wearing a salmon color sports jacket during a John Cena promo.  Henry proceeded to break down and told Cena and the fans that was he was retiring.  In a gesture of sportsmanship, Cena placed his WWE Title belt onto Henry's shoulder and raised his arm.  Henry told his young daughter that her daddy was coming home.  When Henry embraced Cena again, he turned it into a "World's Strongest Slam" and dropped Cena to the mat.  He then exclaimed to Cena; "I got a lot left in the tank!" This had many fans, myself included, thinking it was really over for Henry.  Mark Henry is the WWE's Meryl Streep!  This led to a WWE Title match between the two at Money In the Bank, with Henry falling short.

   Henry became a fan favorite the next night when he said Cena was the better man, only to be attacked by The Shield.  To help retaliate, Henry befriended the Usos.  Henry and Big Show then formed an alliance with Rob Van Dam to try and take down The Shield.  The big men aided RVD in his US Championship match against Shield member Dean Ambrose.  Henry took some time off.  Upon his return, he dropped some weight and shaved his head bald.  He defeated Ryback in January of 2014 and stood up to Brock Lesnar, having several pull-aparts.  Eventually, Lesnar delivered an F5 to Henry and took him out of action. Henry accepted Rusev's US Title challenge but was defeated by the Bulgarian Brute at Night of Champions.  After another feud with Big Show, Roman Reigns earning his respect, and various other things, Henry quietly retired from the squared circle.

    Mark Henry's career sure had its ups and downs but it was one heck of a ride!  He finally broke through as a main event superstar many years into his career with the "Hall of Pain" and secured himself as a legend after his powerful performance during his fake retirement.  He's held Championships and intimidated everyone around him.  He was also sensitive, as he took the death of friend Owen Hart very hard and wrote a poem about him.  Henry has become a household name in professional wrestling and in the world of power lifting.  It is with great honor that I learned he will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year.  Congratulations Mark, you deserve it!

  If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST on YouTube, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.  For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
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