Mark Henry Thinks This WWE SmackDown Storyline Went On For Too Long

One of WWE's longest storylines, Damian Priest vs. Aleister Black, seemed to reach its end last week as the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion stuffed Black into an ambulance, then shut the doors on him in the main event of "WWE SmackDown." According to WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry, the culminating match between them was a massive hit; their overall feud, however, may have overstayed its welcome.

"I think a lot of the criticism was based on how long it took," Henry said on "Busted Open After Dark." "This angle with Damian Priest and Aleister Black took too long. They just kept trying to stretch it out another week. We can get another week out of it, we can get another week out of it. People were tired of it.

"You talked about angles that didn't necessarily deliver. It wasn't that those guys weren't delivering. It's just that you gave them so much time to fill. If you're going to do that, then they should have had another match that was a precursor to the ambulance match that got everybody excited. They didn't do that, but nonetheless, that match was successful. Bringing Rhea [Ripley] into it to combat Zelina Vega was awesome."

The Priest-Black story extends back to July 2025, when Black lost a singles bout to R-Truth via roll-up on "SmackDown," after which Priest attempted to calm down the Dutch star. Instead of taking Priest's advice, Black ambushed him multiple times, resulting in Priest carrying out counterattacks in return. As tensions grew, Black and Priest then formally squared off in the ring, trading wins in Last Man Standing and mixed tag matches before Priest definitively came out on top in the aforementioned ambulance match.

Coming out of their feud, Priest and Black could naturally pivot their attention to the upcoming WWE Royal Rumble premium live event, where 30 men will compete for a title shot of their choosing at WrestleMania 42. Beyond that, Henry foresees them each latching onto a new adversary.

"The darkness element of Aleister Black, you can transition him any day of the week with anybody, especially if somebody is like, 'Wow, you took a good ass whooping' and then he's like, 'Well, I can give you one.' You can go right into something like that, it's easy," Henry said.

While Black's future appears more clear-cut to Henry, the same cannot be said about Priest, particularly due to his character's duality. As such, Henry suggests that WWE deeply consider his possibilities before carrying them out.

"Priest is a hybrid dark side wrestler that is a fan favorite," Henry said. "Do you lean into the darkness or do you lean into him being a fan favorite? And who will that guy be? It's got to be somebody that we look at as not only being an antagonist, but somebody that looks at Priest like, 'You get a lot of opportunity for a guy that hasn't won anything in a while. I've won a lot, and I haven't got any half the opportunities you have.' Figure out who that is, and then that's who you put Priest with."

Prior to his battles with Black, Priest spent many months opposing "The Scottish Warrior" Drew McIntyre, whom he notably met at WrestleMania 41, and later, Saturday Night's Main Event.

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