Mark Henry Reveals Who Came Up With The Rock's 'Know Your Role' Line, Talks Working With The Rock

Former WWE superstar Mark Henry was the latest guest on The Steve Austin Show where he and Steve Austin spoke about Henry's career in wrestling.

One of the major phases of Henry's career was his time working with Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson where the two superstars shared the spotlight in The Nation of Domination stable. Henry alluded to Johnson's impressive work ethic and dedication for his major success.

"[Working with The Rock] was masterclass," Henry said. "I had learned wrestling and I had learned psychology, but I hadn't learned how to apply it in the ring. There's never been a wrestler more studied than Dwayne. He was over prepared. We would talk in the car and he'd have VHS tapes of matches of the people that he was going to wrestle against. We used to carry video games and he would carry a VCR on the road with him and he would watch tapes at night when we got to the room.

"He would always be writing promos and practice those promos on you in the car. He'd say, 'I just wanna ask you a question, how do you feel about driving down to New York?', 'Well, it's...', 'IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW...!' He would practice everything. He told me that I played too much and that I needed to focus. He said I could be good. If I focused on wrestling the way I focus on video games and college football, I'd be great. And he was right. I needed to get serious.

"Jerry Lawler took us so we could learn to work on the road," Henry recalled. "So, we went down to Memphis and started working and driving five hours. I thought we were going to fly and [Rock] said, 'No, spoiled dude, it's over. You're on the road now. This is what it really is. I used to do this with my dad'. He was destined for greatness because he had already knew everything. He had accepted it a long time ago. He tried explaining it to me but I was in my own world."

Henry also pointed out his arrogance when The Rock told him he'd be entering the The Nation of Domination. Henry was reluctant at first since he wanted to be his own superstar, but admitted to now realizing how important being involved with the stable was for his career.

"'They're going to bring you into The Nation [of Domination]," Henry said of The Rock. "[Rock said] 'I've been talking to Vince about you being the muscle for The Nation.' And I was like, 'Man, I don't want to be the muscle for you. I want to be my own guy.' I was stupid. He's like, 'Look man, you're going to be on TV. I'm trying to bring you in and help you out.'"

Speaking of The Rock's major success, Henry highlighted the infamous catch phrase 'Know Your Role and Shut Your Mouth' was originally advice from Ron Simmons, f.k.a Farooq, to Henry as a young wrestler entering the spotlight for the first time. Henry recalled Simmons informing him to keep his mouth shut and do what he is told in order to succeed in wrestling.

"We got to the building and Ron [Simmons] said, 'Look, all you got to do is keep your mouth shut and do what I ask you to do and you're going to be alright.', Henry remembered. "And there's never been truer words. Now, a lot of people think that Dwayne was the one who came up with the 'Know Your Role and Shut Your Mouth' but that was Ron Simmons. Ron Simmons was the one who said, 'Look, you need to know your role and if you can shut your mouth...'and Dwayne took that and made it- it was one of the things that helped him out. So it was one of those things where we were all benefiting."

Mark Henry has held numerous records for his massive power lifting career prior to wrestling which carried over into his memorable run in WWE.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The Steve Austin Show with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.