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Mark Henry was a power lifter. He set some record, he went to the Olympics and blew it and tried again and blew it once more. He's still really strong, he's still really big. But he can't dunk a basketball very well. Henry was 24 when he showed up on WWF Monday Night Raw, 25 when he wrestled his first match and at age 44, in 2015, he's still going. He's not athletic in the traditional wrestling sense, but lumbering, huge, and a presence. He isn't flashy in the ring and to many eyes - has been a dead weight in WWE for much of his 20 years with the company.
But I like him, or have wanted to like him - so I'm going to attempt to watch every TELEVISED Mark Henry match (and most segments of note) in an effort to evaluate the dude's career. I'm crazy, and probably won't finish, but it's something I've wanted to do for some time.
Now, the goal is to go chronologically, watching actual televised matches (and not scouring the Internet for house shows). I'm sticking strictly to WWF/E (and his time in WWE-ran ECW), but not going to try and find footage of OVW or any other development league (if that footage exists). I'll watch some promos and spots, but I don't truly know how or where I would find a catalogue of everything he's ever done (though I'm sure it exists somewhere). On years where he doesn't wrestle a whole lot, I'll include some valet time and non-wrestling segments. I'll use Cagematch.net for match dates and as my main resource and The History of WWE as backup and follow-through.
Rating Mark Henry matches will be a work in progress, because - while I like the dude, he's not going to have a ton of "classic" work-rate matches. Therefore, I will give his matches (and some segments) two ratings: the traditional match rating out of 5 stars AS WELL AS an overall entertainment rating from 1-10. The entertainment rating is loosely defined, but Henry focused and can be character work, hoss work, silliness, comedy, destruction, etc. I'll do my best to explain it, if possible.
Might as well start.
The Debut: WWF Monday Night Raw (3/11/96)
Mark Henry made his debut for the WWF in an interview with Jerry "The King" Lawler before Raw went "on the air" on March 11th, 1996, getting (what I imagine) was some shit from Jerry that was completely insensitive, probably vulgar and potentially racist, before "having enough" and press-slamming him in the ring.
We don't see this moment until the conclusion of the opening match during the broadcast, which happens to be a double-countout between "The Ringmaster: Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Savio Vega. Pre-brace Stone Cold. Pre-all black Stone Cold. Savio Vega.
Double countout.
In the ring, Mark Henry is wearing a typical mid-90s vest, a ridiculous looking pair of lightly washed jeans and black shoes. He picks Jerry up rather easily, which is awesome considering they are soon to bill him as the "World's Strongest Man" (sorry Kazmaier), and is able to drop him relatively safely on his side. Jerry sells like a champ in the ring and screams over the microphone. Jerry at this time is one of the best heels, able to turn someone who is going to the Olympics, sponsored by the WWF into a star by just being an asshole to him. It's a short segment, it's not important, and it leads to us not seeing Henry again on WWF television for 5 months.
Match Rating: N/A
Entertainment Rating: 4/10
The Save: WWF Summerslam '96 (8/17/96)
After an awesome Jake "The Snake" Roberts recap video package detailing his feud with Jerry Lawler in which Lawler mocks Jake for being an alcoholic (edgy!), we are introduced to "the newest member of the WWF" "Fresh from the 1996 Summer Olympics" Mark Henry! Henry comes out wearing an all white denim suit and backwards Kangol and I hate myself.
Henry is here to be a guest commentator (and obviously, set up a future feud). Joining him in the booth is the classic team of Jim Ross, Vince McMahon and Mr. Perfect. Full disclosure: I consider "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig to be my favorite wrestler of all time, but I don't love him on commentary. He tries his best to rib Henry, but Jerry creates so much more heat in the ring, that Hennig is just filler. Jerry references the Browns leaving Cleveland to become the Ravens, which I totally forgot about. King cuts a killer promo in the ring, tearing everyone down with a bunch of one liners and punchlines, and cuts Mark pretty good, before Mark responds "he wouldn't know ever what it'd be like to be this type of athlete" or something along those lines. Woof.
Gentle reminder: Jake's WWF theme is the best ever.
Treating alcoholism as a joke during this Jerry/Jake feud is pretty questionable, though I think they portray Jake pretty well for his part, standing up to the King. The honesty is sort of refreshing, even if the jokes and how on point they are make you wince. The match itself is terrible and Mark is terribly awkward on the microphone, only saying a few things and sounding like he's never talked before in his life. Jerry pours some Jim Beam all over a downed Jake, Henry intervenes, grabs the bottle, stares at Lawler and he backs away to the curtain, then walks Jake back. Mark looks intimidating to be sure, but would have loved to see some punches or something.
Match Rating: N/A
Entertainment Rating: 2/10
Henry makes an appearance on the 8/19 RAW before a Vader match, signing autographs and has a real quick stare down with Vader in what would be a dream feud if it was 2011 Mark Henry. Alas, nothing comes of this.
The next RAW has a special Friday showtime, and Henry has an in-ring interview with Jerry Lawler. Lawler makes a bomb joke comparing Jake Roberts and the Olympics, which is a "...no fuckin way" moment. Basically King tears him down, Henry does a lot of smiling, which seems to be his gimmick. He can't talk his way out of anything, which is funny because he became such an excellent promo later in his career. Jerry challenges Henry to a "wrestling match" not a "fight", Henry sort of backs down because he hasn't trained enough, Lawler makes fun of him some more, pisses Henry off, who agrees and tells Lawler he's going to get "one Gold Medal butt kickin". This was terribly cheesy, but it's brief and it's the first real fire we see from Henry, so it's his best moment yet.
Entertainment Rating: 4.5/10
For the rest of the month, Henry wrestles a handful of house show matches, before his big in-ring debut.
The Match: Mark Henry Vs. Jerry Lawler (In Your House: Mind Games) (9/22/96)
I miss the "In Your House" series of PPVs, which were always an hour shorter, set up more like WCW/NWA "Supercards" rather than huge feud settling PPVs and had some cool set designs. This one is best known for the fairly brutal main event between HBK and Mankind, but it also has Mark Henry's in-ring debut, obviously against Jerry Lawler.
During Jerry's entrance he runs roughshod over the Olympics, Mark Henry and the crowd. Footage is shown from the episode of "Superstars" before the event, where Jerry spills coffee on Henry, which riles him up. Jericho spilled coffee on Kane 4-5 years later and started an awesome feud. We don't quite get that level, here. During the Free-For-All, Henry and Lawler have what looks like a debate, Jerry slaps Henry and reveals his American Flag tracksuit, which is just horrendous.
It's also what he wears to the ring, with another American Flag Kangol hat. The good news is that when Henry removes the jacket and hat, he looks awesome. Wearing a American Gladiators-esque outfit, the most interesting detail being the 3 separated white straps on the left shoulder. You could definitely believe that if this was the 80s, Henry would have been a huge babyface star immediately.
Henry looks huge compared to Lawler and the roster in general, though he doesn't have the intimidating presence that his later characters would - he's just a giant mass of muscle and strength, without being ripped - giving him a totally unique look compared to the rest of the WWF. King puts on a headlock, reveling in his brilliance over the young rookie, but Henry quickly reverses into a hammerlock and throws King to the ground. Jerry is super entertaining in the selling department here. Henry gets Jerry in the same headlock (seen above), before Lawler reverses into a hammerlock, which gets reversed into another hammerlock, allowing Henry to throw Lawler again. Vince and JR do their best to put over Henry, which you can believe is probably pretty genuine, but being surprised at the skill of a hammerlock is pretty outrageous. Henry press slams Lawler a bit recklessly, which gets a huge pop. Henry shrugs off two shoulder blocks, dodges a third and tosses Jerry into the guard rail outside, which is kind of nasty. Good work, Jerry. In a classic spot, Lawler pretends to pull something out of his tights, but it doesn't seem like he actually does - just pretends. Hits Henry twice and finally knocks him off his feet. Henry covers, gives three awesome knees to the mid-section, reminiscent of Vader haymakers, and gets Jerry up into a backbreaker on his shoulder, winning the match.
It was a nothing match as far as work-rate, and is the last time we'll really see Henry wrestle for over a year, but it's clear he's a huge dude that has potential.
Match Rating: 1.25 stars
Entertainment Rating: 5/10
Henry disappears for awhile, comes back in November to backup Barry Windham, Marc Mero and Rocky against Lawler, HHH, Goldust and Crush, but doesn't do much. On the Nov. 17th epsiode of Superstars, Henry has a tug of war contest against Crush, in which HHH and Goldust join, in what is actually the most entertaining thing he does all year. It's completely silly and worth watching. See it here. And just like that, Henry is done for the rest of 1996 and most of 1997, nursing injuries, training, etc. We'll pick back up in the next post in 1997 - where we get to see a bit more.
I'll probably focus more on matches in the future, to keep things simple, but occasional segments will filter in.
Hope this was a little fun, still finding my voice on this blog, which isn't very exciting currently, but I think this Mark Henry series will produce some quality results.
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