It is the most infamous “birth” in television history, and Mark Henry is finally pulling back the curtain on the madness. Decades after Mae Young famously gave birth to a rubber hand on live TV, the World’s Strongest Man admitted that the entire storyline was a product of Vince McMahon’s unpredictable imagination.
When the creative team first pitched the idea of the 77-year-old Young getting pregnant and giving birth in a matter of weeks, Henry was noticeably confused. Despite asking McMahon multiple times why they were doing the story, he never got a straight answer – only a promise that the conclusion would be great.
The reality was far grosser than anyone expected. Pat Patterson eventually clued Henry in, revealing the plan was to use a prosthetic hand hidden in a bag of slime. To make matters worse, the team used actual leftover food from catering to create a nauseating mess specifically to prank Gerald Brisco, who was known for having a weak stomach.
Henry confesses that he was completely useless during the segment because he was laughing so hard at the absurdity. While Henry has been the World Heavyweight Champion and headlined major shows, he calls the “Hand” segment the single most enjoyable thing he ever did in his career.
Here’s what Mark Henry said in his interview with Inside The Ropes:
“I asked Vince at least two or three times, he would never answer me. I would be like, ‘Man, what why? Why getting pregnant?’ Because she can’t have a baby, and this and that. He was like, ‘Don’t worry, Mark. It’s going to come to a a great conclusion.’
So the day of (the segment), Pat Patterson comes to me and goes, ‘Did you hear what’s going on?’ I was like, ‘No, what’s going on, Pat?’ He’s like, ‘You got to sit down. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.’
Then he told me, and I said, ‘A hand?’ He said, ‘Yeah. Look, Gerald Brisco don’t know, so don’t tell him.’ Gerald Brisco has a very weak stomach, he’ll just throw up. It’s the best thing ever.
So Pat said, ‘I need you to go get a bunch of the food and catering that nobody’s eating and just mix it all together and put it in a plastic.’ Then they went and got this slime. They put that in the bag and then they put the hand down inside of it and then so it was underneath the sheet.
When they pulled the hand out, it made a sound like (pop) and you look at me and I’m laughing and I’m completely useless in the whole deal. I’m just laughing. So you go back and look at it and when they pull that hand out, Gerald Brisco [throws up]. It was the best thing that I ever did in wrestling.
I won championships. I had serious emotional respectful moments with guys. There ain’t nothing that I enjoy more than that hand. I asked Vince, ‘Why a hand out of all the stuff?’ He said, ‘Mark, I’m giving you (applause, as Vince McMahon went on to clap)’. See how goofy that is? That’s what’s going on in Vince McMahon’s brain. He’s crazy.”
