Thread: The Mark Henry Lesson
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Old 06-27-2013, 12:37 AM   #81
Tom Guycott
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Noid View Post
I often think about how general opinion on Henry has seemingly gone from an almost universal "he's terrible" and his name being brought up as a waste of money every time releases were mentioning, to being pretty much universally beloved. Henry is classified as "good" these days, which is good for him.
Persistance pays. He didn't give up or jump ship... all the cheezy, uplifting shit Cena has been putting on his shirts for the last 5 years, Henry has lived through it during his entire WWE tenure.

And it helps that he is apparently a pretty nice guy. Never heard any stories about him being any kind of asshole IRL. I remember some radio interview I caught about Randy Orton where he was talking about being stiffed by Mark in that posted match (I think it was that one, not sure) with him on accident... to the effect of (paraphrased) "Bless him, he's a big guy who doesn't really know his strength; if you know him, you know he's not really trying to hurt you". Hell, he was one of the few guys I actually *believed* during RAW is OWEN; he wasn't trying to be "in character" and pretty much showed he was truly a gentle giant.

Also, I would say a sizable element of luck played into him lasting long enough to mature into some greatness. Much like I said Triple H was a pretty mediocre guy who excelled at making the most of all the cards falling his way, much the same could be said about Henry... sort of. He wasn't anything particularly special outside of the WWF's desire to use him as a cross-promotional heavy... Vince's big man fettish? Check. Big BLACK man? Check. POWERLIFTER?! That's perfect from back in the ICO:PRO days, so check there too.

It already wasn't going to matter if he sucked ass, he "looked the shit". And all those detrimental injuries really prolonged his career in a way. He was never overexposed to where people got sick of him, and could always come in just about anywhere and be viewed as a credible threat. And then, there's Kurt Angle. What does Kurt have to do with Mark? Well, he kind of took that Olympian ball and ran with it... that same banner they initally wanted Mark to wave around. They couldn't really view Henry as a failure in that reguard there since they came into somebody who was just better with it. He never had the juiced-up, roided out physique of someone like a Chris Masters, so when he looked to be less in shape, there wasn't any "the illusion's gone" moment with him.

And even with that, he didn't just sit on his big ass and go "pfft, they ain't gon' fire me!" He actually tried to get better. He worked on cutting promos. He got better in the ring, even AFTER getting his mobility hampered by repeated knee trauma and having to move all that around all these years. He's got the "big man" ring psychology down. The big ass man can also take some big ass bumps.

Again, Cena's shirt says it all: HUSTLE, LOYALTY, RESPECT. Mark Henry has done all that. Hustled his ass off (figuratively), been a loyal WWE man, and has earned any respect he's due.
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