10 Promos That Totally Changed Your Opinion Of A Wrestler
9. Mark Henry's Retirement Speech
Before the promo:
In 2015, Mark Henry, then a veteran of nearly two decades, failed to get the infamous Intercontinental Title Elimination Chamber match back on the rails after his pod opened prematurely. He knew he couldn't stand in place inside the pod - there was no stopping him from entering the match - but that didn't stop him from standing in place in the ring. In a damning, profound indictment of the WWE system, Henry had no instincts nor an ability to call it. He simply watched as Wade Barrett and Dolph Ziggler worked their pre-planned spots before breaking up a pin attempt. In an elimination match.
All of this is to state that Henry, a very effective monster when booked well and motivated, wasn't a great professional wrestler in the traditional sense; he could play a role, so long as that role was heavily directed. He was an eleventh hour replacement for R-Truth, and the Chamber is a convoluted match, but he didn't even pulverise Barrett and Ziggler and mug for the crowd while awaiting revised instructions from the referee.
That is an easy suggestion to make in retrospect - but making it in the moment is a skill a great wrestler is meant to possess.
After the promo:
Mark Henry's faux-retirement promo was so blow-away incredible that it has developed a mythology of revised history. He convincingly hit every beat and cadence of a short-form Hall of Fame spiel that he literally hid the twist in plain sight. Cena was stood in the ring the entire damn time, so obviously there to get his head kicked in, and it didn't matter.
This one promo elevated his Hall of Pain run as the pinnacle of a slow, grand career, and not an aberration.