By 2011, Mark Henry was one of the longest tenured employees in WWE. The World’s Strong Man had been wrestling for Vince McMahon since 1996, and despite receiving offers from other companies, Henry remained where he was, and he did what whatever the company told him to do. This included some of the most bizarre angles imaginable but Henry never vented his frustrations because he respected Vince McMahon.
He was easily one of the strongest men in wrestling history, but despite his abnormal strength and loyalty, Mark Henry was never given an opportunity to hold the world title. He was a mid-card talent at best, but in 2011, Henry was pushed an unstoppable monster heel and we got the Hall of Pain saga over on SmackDown. Finally, after 15 years of mid-card success, Henry became world heavyweight champion.
Mark Henry Snapped After An Embarrassing Vince McMahon Prank
Henry got the title off of Randy Orton and won the overall feud convincingly as the Viper was no match for his strength and size. 2011 was a bad year for WWE, as the company was creatively bankrupt, but this was a well put together storyline. More importantly, it was built for a very deserving individual.
However, before the saga began, Mark Henry was ready to quit the company, and on an episode of SmackDown, Henry raised hell backstage. Henry actually went on a rampage backstage because his boss, the guy who he was extremely loyal to, thought a humiliating prank would be something funny.
Vince McMahon loves to prank people but if you’re a loyal employee of his, said pranks borderline on cruelty. In 2011, Henry was a victim on live television. Henry was sent out for a dark match and his opponent was supposed to be Sin Cara. This may have been a dark match, but the house was packed.
The World’s Strongest Man made his entrance first, and he waited for his opponent to show up. He waited and waited and waited but the music never hit and Henry was left alone in the ring, clearly annoyed as time went by. Henry asked the referee what was going on, and he was told that Sin Cara was getting his knee wrapped up.
Eventually, Henry got angry and made up his mind to hurt Sin Cara in the ring because he was being disrespectful to him and the business. After ten minutes of waiting, the World's Strongest Man had enough, and he stormed out of the ring and went backstage.
Nobody was there in the backstage area and Henry described it as a ghost town. Perhaps this was part two of the prank, but Henry was at his limit and he began destroying the backstage area in a rage. He punched the walls, destroyed the lightning, and started tearing it all down. He eventually kicked the door open to Vince McMahon’s room, but the boss was not there.
The Prank Led To Mark Henry's Hall Of Pain Storyline
Henry then called McMahon. When Vince picked up, Mark Henry told him that he was done with the company, and that this was the last rib. McMahon defended his disrespectful rib by saying that he was playing around, but Henry was having none of that. He told McMahon he loved the business and respected him, but with the rib, it was clear that McMahon had no respect for him, so there was no reason for them to talk.
Upon hearing this, Vince McMahon apologized to Mark Henry, and he was deeply remorseful about the rib. McMahon then told Henry not to quit as he was too valuable for the company. He then sent him a recording of Henry angry in the ring. According to McMahon, if Henry he could do that on camera, the company would make a lot of money, and he would be successful.
This led to the Hall of Pain storyline and the world title victory. At first, Henry was not sure whether he could put on a display of such anger and hatred again, but he went ahead with the idea and became one of the more entertaining acts in the entire company.