Mark Henry Discusses Transitioning Into Promoter Role With SWE

WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry was on a recent episode of The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Henry is currently in a management position at SWE along with fellow WWE Hall of Famer and SWE General Manager Teddy Long. Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman noted how important it is to have diversity behind the scenes in pro wrestling, and Henry talked about being one of the only Black promoters in pro wrestling.

"I take a lot of pride in it," Henry expressed. "I want to be a great promoter. I want to be a great booker. I want to be a great teacher. It just happens that I'm African-American, and I'm a Black man. And I take a lot of pride in being me, and if I can make other Black men look good by my success, then that's what I'm going to do."

Henry also talked about what his new management role will entail. Henry noted his over two decades in the industry.

"I've been blessed in my 26 years to work in the biggest company in the world, and there's been a lot of education of how to run the business, what's effective and what's not in running a business, and why you do things and when you do things," Henry said. "Even if you have a wrestling company you've been running for years and you have somebody that can come in and say, 'Hey man, I paid attention, and I know how this works,' then you bring that person in. They can help you make everything more efficient and make everything better."

Hausman then asked what Henry hopes to help SWE with. Henry spoke on why there needs to be more transparency in between management and talent.

"Talent and characters run wrestling, so the number one thing is the character development," Henry noted. "They have to get better with developing the talent that are on the program. Trying to figure out why you do things and who you do it with is a complicated conversation. You have to be able to pull people aside and go, 'Hey, there's plans for you down the road, but right now, this is what we need to make the business better if you can stick it out and you can wait until this time,' because in a lot of companies, people get smoke blown their way so much that they get disenfranchised with those people. I don't want SWE to do that.

"Don't string people along. If you're not going to use them, tell them, 'I'm not going to use you. We have other people in mind right now, but if you can wait, then it'd be great. But if not, then go away and do what you want to do, and then, we'll call you back, or you can check in with us later on.' Be transparent. A lot of companies are not, and the WWE has always been a company that had some transparency because they can.

"They can say, 'Hey, we're going this direction.' A lot of people can't handle that and I don't want those people to work for me. I don't want those people that are weak in that constitution as it revolves around their ego. I've been around the best wrestlers on the planet for 26 years, and I've seen the best guys, top five wrestlers probably of all time realize, say, 'you know what, you're right.' It's more about that than it is about me. Let's come back to me in a year, or let's come back to me in two years, and then I can do this. That's a learned thing. You can't just expect that kind of stuff to happen.

For more information about SWE please visit SWEFury.com. You can find the full audio and video from Mark's interview below: