8 Ups And 6 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (August 1)

DOWNS…

6. Should’ve Stuck To Mentoring

It’s sad in some ways to see Mark Henry going out as little more than enhancement talent. He’s grown into a solid, entertaining performer through the years, and his “Hall of Pain” gimmick was one of the better heel monsters WWE has done.

But seeing him lumber through his United States Championship match against Rusev was sad for a couple reasons. First, it’s clear Henry is slowing down in the ring. If he’s going to continue to be a performer, being in a tag team would be a great way to prolong his career and limit his involvement. He could have a decent run in that role.

Second, Henry got a U.S. title match with little fanfare and little build. He showed up out of the blue for the first time on Raw and talked his way into a championship match, then promptly lost the title shot. And worse, this came after he gave a passionate promo about having fire in the tank that momentarily made you think they were going to give the World’s Strongest Man one last push.

But that’s likely not to be.