WWE Superstar Mark Henry was on a promotional appearance tour in India where he told the Times of India that his career could be nearing its conclusion: I may retire next year. It may be the swan-song of my wrestling career; but definitely not the end of Mark Henry! Talk of the World's Strongest Man retiring has been around for some time now as his career has slowly declined after a prolonged stay in the main events ran its course. Not since his interactions with John Cena in 2013 - and that fantastic hoax retirement speech on RAW - have we seen the 400-pounder booked in a position to showcase his talents. Recently, we've only seen Mark in less than flattering situations, jobbing to Rusev in next-to-no-time on consecutive RAWs before heading into the abyss. 2016 represents a fairytale-like scenario for the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion to retire. Henry signed with WWE in 1996, so if he was to call it a day it will be a 20-years as a performer, an unprecedented achievement in this line of work. Next years WrestleMania is also in his home state of Texas so it could be the perfect setting for him to have his last match - and receive a WWE Hall of Fame ring the night before? That ring is becoming a bit of a pressing issue at the moment: Does Henry, if he does announce his intentions to retire at Mania, deserve to go into the Hall of Fame? The short answer to this question is yes. Most definitely. His longevity alone should see him sail into the Hall. 20-years at the top - through the Monday Night Wars and an even harder period (in terms of being a performer with nowhere else to go) in the business' history afterwards - can't be overlooked. Yes his career took a while to get going, yes he was Sexual Chocolate for a while, and yes he helped Mae Young give birth to a plastic hand - but the fact we all remember those moments, and still chant Sexual Chocolate towards him today, proves what a versatile performer he was and consummate professional in terms of making contrasting characters work. Then we just have to look at the big man's legacy in the ring. He won titles, not as many as other Hall of Fame members but when he had them he held onto them. Henry has won one ECW Championship, one World Heavyweight Championship, one European Championship, and three Slammy Awards during his career to date. AND, he was even reportedly in-line to end The Undertaker's streak at WrestleMania 22... That's how highly he has been though of during his spell in WWE. Court Bauer discussed this potential Streak ender on Wrestling Inc, and noted that at one point it was discussed to have Henry end it as he was on a roll as a heel, and Vince McMahon thought that it might be time for his potential at the time to be recognised in the biggest way possible... Could you imagine if that went down? All of the above proves that Mark Henry is a bonafide WWE Hall of Famer, and we have't even touched on his career outside of the wrestling ring as a weightlifter which cements his place as one of the greats even further. And at the end of the day, looking at last year's inductees, if there's a spot for Rikishi, there's surely a spot for Mark Henry! Do you agree with this? Or do you believe Henry doesn't warrant a place in the Hall? Let us know in the comments below!
