Just recently, the WWE rumors and news of a former WWE World Champion officially retiring from wrestling, or at least from in-ring work, came to light. The “World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry made the news public as he was featured on a WWE Network Table for 3 special which included former stars Ron Simmons and Charles Wright. The longtime superstar, who has held several championships during his career, announced he will no longer compete in the ring. However, it appears that Henry will still be a part of the wrestling company in another capacity.
Over the past several months, WWE has seen several of their longtime stars announce retirement in one way or another. Mark Henry, who has used gimmicks such as “Sexual Chocolate” and his inductions into the “Hall of Pain,” appears to be the latest. According to Wrestlezone , Henry made comments on the recent Table for 3 special which featured his fellow “Nation of Domination” members Kama Mustafa and Ron Simmons. During the open discussion, Henry brought up the reason he was hanging up his wrestling gear in favor of a different role, with part of it involving his wife wanting him around more to be with her and the kids.
As reported by 411 Mania , Henry summed up his time in the ring and his big decision to move away from competing and into helping others.
“It’s been 21 years, and as we know, that Father Time is undefeated. My time is coming to an end. I’ll go from talent to an employee here in a few months. I’m just looking forward to making that transition, helping these young guys and girls coming in beneath us.”
At 46-years-old, Henry’s decision seems to be a smart one. He hasn’t had a major role in any of the WWE storylines in quite a while now, with the exception of a brief feud earlier this year with Braun Strowman. During his two decades as a professional wrestler with WWE, he captured the WWF European Championship, the now-defunct ECW Championship, and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship for a three-month reign in late 2011. Henry was also voted the most improved wrestler in 2009 and ranked in the top 10 for the PWI 500 back in 2012.
Henry now joins several other notable longtime stars with WWE who have announced retirement. They include Big Show, who has said he plans to leave WWE by next February and the Undertaker. While “The Deadman” never officially announced his retirement, his actions following his loss to Roman Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania 33 have given strong evidence that it may have been his final in-ring competition for WWE. Among Taker’s many victories at the WrestleMania pay-per-view was a win over none other than the “World’s Strongest Man.”
While Henry will be missed as an in-ring competitor, he’ll still be behind the scenes trying to help other younger stars rise on the roster. He can certainly lend his expertise to them in terms of developing a monstrous heel persona. He can also teach them how to cut a convincing promo in the ring, ala his ruse where he once convinced the fans and John Cena that he was going to retire and then turned against them. That convincing promo, minus his attack on Cena, now serves as a fitting speech to sum up his great career as a worker in the ring and his reason for hanging it up.
WWE fans, how do you feel about Mark Henry retiring from wrestling? Should he have been given another title run or two during his career?
[Featured Image by WWE]
