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Mark Henry (born June 12 1971, in Silsbee, Texas) is an American professional wrestler, currently performing for World Wrestling Entertainment on the WWE Friday Night SmackDown! brand.

Career

Henry was billed as the "World's Strongest Man" after he qualified for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics Weightlifting Competition, where he finished tenth in the superheavyweight class. After the WWF sponsored Henry in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, he was signed to a ten-year contract, an anomaly in pro wrestling. Trained by Stu and Bret Hart, he debuted at In Your House X in on September 22, 1996, defeating Jerry Lawler.

Henry joined the Nation of Domination in 1997, where he was allied with The Rock. After that faction disbanded, he became allied with D-Lo Brown, with whom he formed a tag team. During a match at Summer Slam '99 between D-Lo and Jeff Jarrett for the WWF Intercontinental Championship and WWF European Championship (both held at the time by D-Lo), Henry turned on D-Lo and helped Jarrett win the match and the titles. The next night, Henry was given the European title by Jarrett.

Henry gained notoriety with the nickname "Sexual Chocolate", the name taken from a fictional funk band in the movie Coming to America. After this, Mark Henry was seen on television romancing WWF women from Chyna to Mae Young as part of the gimmick. He feuded with Viscera during this time as part of a storyline where Viscera big splashed Mae Young while she was carrying Henry's child, Young would go on to give birth to a hand. Along with this, Henry was made part of various other embarrassing and infamous storylines, including performing sexual actions with a man in drag unbeknownst to Henry at the time and the admission that he was a sex addict, and that his first sexual experience was with his sister.

In 2000, Henry was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) to improve his conditioning and skills. Later that year, he went on hiatus from wrestling to concentrate on weightlifting, and on February 23 2002, he won the "World's Strongest Man" competition in Columbus, Ohio, claiming a $75,000 Humvee as his prize.

Henry returned to the WWF the next month and was sent to the Smackdown! brand, where his "feats of strength" gimmick met with little success. He was used sporadically on WWE television during 2002, and was sent back to OVW for more training. He also had a brand new look, with his hair grown out and braided.

In August 2003, Henry returned to WWE television on the RAW roster, where he found some success as a member of "Thuggin' and Buggin'," an all African-American heel stable led by Theodore Long. During that time, Henry was involved in a brief program with World Heavyweight Champion Bill Goldberg when former champion Triple H put a bounty on Goldberg's head. In February 2004, Henry underwent surgery following a shoulder injury. While training for his comeback in OVW, Henry suffered a torn quadricep muscle. Henry was utilized by WWE as a public relations figure during his recovery.

After yet another rehabilitation stint in OVW, Henry returned to WWE on November 28th 2005 in a dark match for RAW. His planned involvement at Taboo Tuesday was scrapped after Stone Cold Steve Austin walked out of a program with Jonathan Coachman.

During an episode of SmackDown! taped on December 27, Henry interfered in a WWE Tag Team Championship match, helping MNM defeat Rey Mysterio and Batista for the title. as a heel Henry had seeming joined with MNM and began being managed by Melina. A week later on SmackDown! Henry got in the face of the World Heavyweight Champion, Batista, and would go on to interfere in a steel cage match between MNM and Rey Mysterio and Batista, helping MNM to retain their titles. Mark Henry then had another match with Batista at a live event where Batista recived a severely torn tricep that required surgery forcing him to vacate his title. On the January 10, 2006 edition of SmackDown!, Henry was involved in a battle royal for the vacated World Heavyweight Championship. He was finally tossed out by Kurt Angle, who won the title.

On the next episode of SmackDown! taped on January 17, Henry became the number one contender and earned the spot to face World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle at the 2006 Royal Rumble by defeating Rey Mysterio. Later on this edition of SmackDown!, Daivari, former manager of Kurt Angle, faced his former client in a match. During the match Mark Henry attacked Kurt, after Daivari announced that he was now managing Henry. At the 2006 Royal Rumble, Henry was defeated by Angle after Angle repeatedly hit Henry's head with a steel chair before dropping him onto an exposed turnbuckle and rolling him into a pinning position with aid from pulling the tights and holding the rope illegally.

Henry later lost to The Undertaker due to MNM interfering with the match, thus losing his shot at the World Heavyweight Championship at No Way Out. On the March 3, 2006, Henry interfered in a World Heavyweight Championship match between The Undertaker and Kurt Angle by attacking Undertaker. He concluded the attack by putting Undertaker through the SmackDown! announce table.

Henry's ten-year contract with WWE expires in August 2006.

Wrestling facts

Finishing and signature moves

• World's Strongest Slam (falling slam)
• Death from Above (Banzai drop)
• Bearhug
• Big splash
• Inverted chokeslam
• Torture rack

Managers

• Daivari
• Melina
• Kenny Bolin
• Jim Cornette
• Ivory
• Jacqueline
• Theodore Long
• Terri Runnels

Quotes

• "You cannot beat the world's strongest man."
• "I'm gonna take you out!"
• "I'm the world's strongest man!"
• "You can't beat me!"
• "(To Kurt Angle) I'm gonna take you and the Undertaker out!"

Championships and accomplishments

• Professional wrestling

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• PWI ranked him # 472 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003.

• World Wrestling Federation

• 1-time WWF European Champion

• Weighlifting

• Arnold Classic 2002 Strongest Man

References

• Obsessed With Wrestling - Mark Henry

• 1971 births
• African American sportspeople
• American professional wrestlers
• Living people
• Olympic weightlifters of the United States
• People from Texas