Few WWE superstars have had a longer, rockier journey to the top of the card than Mark Henry. Debuting as a green powerlifting champion, Henry would go through countless iterations, such as joining the Nation of Domination, becoming Sexual Chocolate and dating Mae Young. He toiled throughout the 2000s as a monster who never quite made it to the top. In 2011 though, WWE and Henry struck gold literally with his Hall of Pain gimmick, during which the Worlds Strongest Man injured Big Show, Kane, Great Khali and Vladimir Kozlov and captured the World Heavyweight Championship from Randy Orton. He was on the biggest roll of his career and was a legitimate threat to any opponent. However, injuries would derail Henrys momentum in quick succession. He lost a month to a hyper-extended knee in early 2012, returned for three months and then was out for nine more months due to surgery. Since his return in early 2013, Henrys career has been full of stop-and-start pushes, both as a face and a heel. Sadly, it doesnt appear that he will reach the heights of his late 2011 push again.
Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.
