10 WWE Stars Who Went From Undesirable To Undeniable

Everyone has done something they regret in life. Among the countless things Vince McMahon should class as regrettable, one of the ones he did was the signing of Mark Henry in the mid-90s.

With WWE taking a battering from WCW in the ratings, Vince signed the 'Worlds Strongest Man' on the back of his incredible power lifting career. The expectancy was that Henry would be able to transition into wrestling relatively simply, but it took the big man a long time to get to grips with the business. It soon became clear that the ten year contract they had offered the former 'Sexual Chocolate' would be an expensive mistake.

Rumour has it that Vince McMahon threw a litany of appalling gimmicks at Henry to get him to quit the business, and that does have some substance. The former World Heavyweight Champion was made to confess to losing his virginity to his sister, put in a grotesque relationship with the geriatric Mae Young as part of his "sex addiction" and then fathered a hand.

Yes. A hand.

To his credit, Henry got better. Much better. Eventually, he became a solid hand in the upper midcard and his 'Hall of Pain' run is fondly remembered, as was his brilliant fake retirement promo alongside John Cena. For a man who was seen as an expensive mistake, he went on to win the World Heavyweight Championship, face the Undertaker at WrestleMania and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018.