• Mark Henry On What He Said To Vince McMahon Before Joining AEW
During a recent appearance on Busted Open Radio, WWE Hall Of Famer Mark Henry talked about joining AEW & his conversation with Vince McMahon.
Below are the highlights:
On why he left WWE:
“My deal was up. This is not something that was recent. I can go back to 5 months? 6 months? I wanted a position in the office and I wanted everything that comes with it. And I talked to Vince himself. And he said, ‘write it up. You’re somebody that I’ll hear from, I’ll listen to.’ And I was told there was a lot of cleaning house and there was a lot of cuts that were happening. There was a lot to come.
I’ve seen hundreds of people in the company go. I still felt like, ‘well, knowing this, I feel valuable enough that I’m not going anywhere. So that’s cool.’ But when your deal comes up, and the rights, the legality part of it comes up to where you’re going to go next and what you’re going to do, I felt like I wanted to do more. I always wanted to do more.
You know me, I’m a busybody. If I’m not doing what I know I can do, especially if I feel I can do it better than somebody else. If I can’t get that opportunity, I have to start looking for that somewhere else. And I did.”
On the conversation he had with Vince McMahon before joining AEW:
“It wasn’t negative. Everybody knows me and Vince got love for each other. And more than love, respect. Me calling him and saying what needed to be said came from a place of like, a brother telling his older brother, ‘man I’m tired of being in the shadows. I feel like someone beneath you is holding me back. And if somebody’s holding me back, I’ve got to go.’
Because you can tell everybody what to do, but there might be something that comes with that. I felt like I’m being held back, I’m not getting what I want. I want to be successful. You know I want to be able to learn more, I want to get those pelts on the wall.
And man, it was just like the coolest thing. He was like, ‘man, you know everything you need to know. You go and if you feel like you need to go, (I) don’t necessarily want it, but if you feel like you need to go, then go. I know you’re going to be successful.’ That’s what you want. I’m not going to run from a conversation like that.
There’s a lot of people that are kind of scary and unloyal or whatever. Nobody will ever say Mark Henry is unloyal. I’ve been loyal. There were times where I was offered more money and I didn’t leave.
25 Years, with the same company, through the good and the bad, I was there. Everything wasn’t perfect, but what family has a perfect existence? Not very many. But mine was really good. I had a really good experience, I learned a lot. I spent more time in the production office and in the trucks than I did around the ring and in catering. I always had an executive mindset.”
Also Read: Backstage News On Mark Henry’s AEW Contract
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• Old School WWF Legend Would Have Celebrated His Birthday
Today would have been the 84th birthday of Old School WWF Legend Gorilla Monsoon (Real name: Robert Marella).
After his career as an active WWWF/WWF Superstar came to an end during the early 80s, Gorilla Monsoon became an announcer and will always be remembered as one of the 2 greatest play-by-play commentators in professional wrestling history, with the other one being “Good Ol’ J.R.” Jim Ross.
In 1994, Monsoon was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame (now known as WWE Hall of Fame) by his colleague & friend, Jim Ross.
The last time we saw him on TV was during the ‘WWF WrestleMania XV’ PPV, where he received a standing ovation.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY & † REST IN PEACE!
June 4, 1937 – October 6, 1999
