This year’s official WrestleMania magazine has confirmed that Mark Henry will be the final inductee into the 2018 WWE Hall of Fame. I am delighted to hear the news because I have been a fan of his ever since his monster push on SmackDown in early 2006.
For me the only downside is that the announcement was not revealed on tomorrow’s RAW. I would have preferred to find out about the Hall of Fame induction of one of my favourite wrestlers through a more official channel than Twitter. It would have made for a really pleasant surprise.
But, alas, there is much to be happy about. Henry’s induction embellishes an impressive career in professional wrestling and boosts the prestige of this year’s ceremony, as he joins the likes of Goldberg and the Dudley Boyz. I look forward to his speech, which I think will be one of the best, and most emotional, of the night.
That Mark Henry is deserving of the honour is an understatement. He has given more than twenty years of his professional and personal life to WWE, showing great loyalty even when times were tough. For more than a decade Henry was a fixture in WWE’s top mix of talent, and developed into one of the most believable and credible monster heel’s in recent memory.
Intriguingly, though, becoming a Hall of Famer does not only cement Henry’s legacy in WWE, it also brings his athletic journey to a sweet close. Henry’s powerlifting and weightlifting background is relevant to his WWE tenure because it acts as a prelude to his character.
He is the only man ever to win a national and world championship in Strongman, powerlifting and weightlifting, and was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame in March 2012. The World’s Strongest Man moniker was no work and played a central role in all of Henry’s pushes. Nobody besides Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar in the annals of WWE history can claim to be a more legitimate and decorated athlete than Mark Henry.
Henry can take his ring knowing that in 2011 he had one of the greatest and most entertaining main event runs in modern WWE history. His Hall of Pain work culminated in a World Heavyweight Championship at Night of Champions which stands out as one of my personal highlights as a 15-year wrestling fan.
Beyond this, he was an important part of the Nation of Domination, one of the staple factions of the Attitude Era. He had two enjoyable feuds with The Undertaker, one of which resulting in a casket match at WrestleMania 22. He gave us the Mae Young ‘hand’ moment and the never-forgotten Sexual Chocolate gimmick. He also won the Tag Team Titles and ECW Championship back in 2008.
But arguably our favourite Mark Henry moment came in the summer of 2013. Like many fans I loved his retirement swerve, complete with the infamous salmon jacket and references to his wife and children. I think the reason this segment sticks out most prominently in his career was because it represented an occasion in which Henry managed to display his entire range of skills all in one moment.
We know he can cut a promo, we know he can overpower opponents, we know he can be funny and we know he is an emotional guy. But until that point we had not really seen every skill showcased all at once. This is what made it so special. Not many giants are as multi-dimensional as Mark Henry and this fact provides us with important insight into the reasons for his Hall of Fame induction.
We might throw Big Show, Kane, Undertaker and Braun Strowman into that group, depending on your criteria for ‘giant’, but the list is not a long one. Historically, giants have played to their strengths and relied solely upon their size in their wrestling careers. As wrestling’s big men go, Henry is right up there with the greatest of all time.
I want to congratulate Mark Henry on being inducted into the 2018 WWE Hall of Fame. No doubt the fans in New Orleans will give him the ovation he thoroughly deserves.
