10 Fascinating WWE Royal Rumble 2006 Facts
2. It Was Mark Henry's First Main Event Singles Match On PPV
The year 2006 marked ten years since Kurt Angle and Mark Henry, the participants in the hastily-changed World Heavyweight title match, competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics. That meant it was also ten years since Mark Henry signed a ten-year contract with WWE. To put it mildly, in 2006, most people saw Henry as one of the biggest busts in company history.
Through injuries, rehabilitation, and the extended periods of sitting out, Henry's potential went unrealized for a long time. Working the final match of the 2006 Rumble with Angle was Henry's first pay-per-view main event singles match. He would only have one other one in his career, losing to a returning Undertaker at Unforgiven 2007.
Though Henry would have better days with WWE (particularly as a nasty, trash-talking monster heel in 2011, by far his best run), the fact that it took almost ten years to get Henry into PPV main events (after being signed to a ten-year deal, with no wrestling training) is something that really sticks out.