Mark Henry Recalls People In WWE Having Doubts About Braun Strowman When He Was Brought In
On this week's episode of The Bump, WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry explained to the panel how tough it is to be the big guy in the industry, and the type of attitude that can form because of it. Henry gives his take on his experience being the big guy, and how he learned to help others who would experience the same thing, including Braun Strowman.
"[On the 'Big Guy gimmick'] It starts off as heat like you've got a problem with everybody. We call that 'Big Guy Heat,'" Henry informed. "You get too many big guys in the room, people start to talk about their accolades, and say things like 'Yeah, I've beaten this guy. Yeah, I've beaten that guy. I'm over, look at me.' Then, you start to look at people as your contemporaries. You look at them as your peer group. You learn from each other. Then, you start to work against each other.
"Me and The Big Show – arguably the biggest guys of our era – we worked together probably 100 times. It was always cordial when we met. He was like my brother. So, it's been different in the case for me and him. When I brought in Braun Strowman, some people were like 'I don't know about this guy, man.' I told him 'That's the big guy heat. Let it die down. It will work out in the end, and it did.'"
Though Henry has multiple roles in the WWE, his favorite one is to help scout new talent. When it comes to recruiting other big and statured wrestlers, Henry believes that Keith Lee and a few others, who are in developmental at the moment, will excel the same way as his did during his in-ring career.
"Keith Lee is at the top of my list," Henry stated. "He's an unbelievable worker. He uses great psychology (in the ring) and he's athletic as hell for a big guy. There are some other guys in developmental that I'm looking forward to seeing show up. We have a 7'0" giant named Jordan from Nigeria, who looks the part. I'm looking forward to seeing the future. There are about 10 guys there, and six of them are over 7-feet-tall."
Speaking of Strowman, during an interview on Busted Open, Strowman credited Henry as the man who helped shape his career. Henry noted that when he's scouting talent, specifically bigger men, he tries to find athletes who are similar to Strowman not only strength-wise but personality-wise as well.
"You know, Braun is the A-typical guy that we need in pro wrestling," Henry mentioned. "He's not shy. When he walks into the room, he owns the room. That's what I look for when I'm scouting talent."
You can view Henry's full interview here. If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit WWE's The Bump with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.