A longtime star, former champion, and current Raw roster member within the WWE has now confirmed his retirement from in-ring competition. “The World’s Strongest Man” has been with the WWE for two decades and has achieved multiple championships, including the ECW title and World Heavyweight Championship. He’s now decided at 46-years-old to move away from wrestling in the ring to more of a helping role. Henry has indicated he would be doing so a few months ago on WWE Network, but it has now been confirmed yet again via a recent interview.
On Friday, Sportskeeda reported that Mark Henry appeared on a recent episode of Sam Roberts Podcast and confirmed the rumors . Henry indicated he would no longer be appearing in an in-ring capacity but would have more of a backstage role. That could mean Henry will help superstars work on various aspects of their delivery of promos, in-ring skills, or help with creative concepts. Other superstars who have transitioned into a similar role have included Finlay, Jamie Noble, and Road Dogg.
The longtime star and former Heavyweight champion appeared on WWE Network’s Table for 3 back in July along with Big Show and Kane. During that show , Henry had mentioned that he’d be transitioning to this backstage role as well. He hasn’t appeared on any WWE television programming such as Raw or SmackDown Live since that show or as part of any major pay-per-views over the past several months. Henry’s entry into the Royal Rumble this past January may have been his final PPV appearance with the WWE. In that match, he was eliminated by WWE’s newest big man, Braun Strowman.
Mark Henry is now 46-years-old, and the move away from the ring makes sense. He has been with WWE since 1996 and never really went to another promotion, giving him a lengthy resume and experience with the company. In addition, there hasn’t been a whole lot for Mark Henry since being placed on the Raw roster beyond his use to enhance younger talents like Braun Strowman and Brock Lesnar as they look to get over.
However, with all that said, WWE fans would probably love to see some sort of final match for Mark Henry. With the news of Big Show’s retirement coming in early 2018, that could set something up. However, one would think that WWE needs to give two of their top big men over the past two decades a good send-off. Possibly an appearance in the Royal Rumble , where they end up eliminating a number of competitors before one another, or a tag team match at a pay-per-view, with Henry and Show teaming up to defeat another team.
Interestingly, The Big Show has odds to win the Royal Rumble at the sportsbook Paddy Power, while Mark Henry does not. However, there are about 100 names on that list, including celebrities and athletes like Donald Trump, Barack Obama, Conor McGregor, and Ronda Rousey. The Big Show has odds of 100 to one to win the Rumble , while Henry is not listed, so they may not even be in the match. Still, fans wouldn’t mind seeing these two major superstars collide in the ring at least one more time before hanging up their wrestling gear.
[Featured Image by WWE]
