The Many Faces Of Mark Henry - Ranked From Worst To Best
8. The World's Strongest Man
Mark Henry has regularly used his World’s Strongest Man nickname since since 2002, but this section refers to the gimmick’s early days. Sent back to OVW for extra training after Sexual Chocolate had ran its course in 2000, Henry became a tag team wrestler, before eventually taking a year-long hiatus from wrestling following the death of his mother.
Henry became a professional strongman for the first time in his career, and he was hugely successful. Competing against some of the best professional strongmen on the planet, Henry set a powerlifting world record in 2002, and scored a number of big cash prizes. He had more than earned the title of World’s Strongest Man, and WWE leaned heavily on this when he eventually returned.
Nothing about Henry’s new persona caught-on, however. His act revolved around various tests of strength like car-pulling and bending iron bars backstage, but the strongman act just didn’t translate to a wrestling audience. Henry couldn’t get over, and while he got to work with talented guys like Christian and Chris Jericho, Mark had barely improved as a worker. He went on another long hiatus for train for another weightlifting competition in late 2002, and was eventually sent back to developmental again.