Mark Henry Says John Cena Was Unaware Of Famous WWE Swerve

One of the most legendary moments of Mark Henry's career was the fake retirement speech he conducted on "WWE Raw" in 2013, where he turned heel and delivered the World's Strongest Slam on John Cena. Henry's actions would lead to a World Heavyweight Championship opportunity against Cena at Money In The Bank later that year, but he would fail to defeat the "Never Seen 17" on the night, a decision that was heavily criticized by the WWE Universe. To this day, many believe that Money In The Bank should've been the beginning of Henry's second run with the championship, and during an interview with "Isiah Madrigal," the "The World's Strongest Man" reflected on not emerging victorious at the event, and revealed when Cena learned about the fake retirement.

"A lot of people were mad at the WWE," Henry stated. "I did not take the opportunity to win the title and to run with it. At that time, I was very injured and I told them, I was like look man, I really did want to retire and Vince McMahon talked me out of retiring ... He's like, let's just keep it going and then you retire and let it be a real retirement. I want you to really get into it and that's what happened. That's how it all came about and I really was retiring. That was my real retirement speech. When I went in the Hall Of Fame, I added to it, but I never did another retirement speech because the one that I did was impossible to top ... John Cena didn't know until I went out to the ring and they were talking to him behind in the back."

Henry explained that almost nobody was aware of his fake retirement speech, with most of WWE and even his wife discovering that he would continue wrestling when the segment aired live on "Raw."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Isiah Madrigal" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.