AEW star recalls recommending a tag team to Vince McMahon in WWE
Vince McMahon often listened to advice from those around him during his 40 years in charge of WWE creative. In a recent interview, Mark Henry recalled how he recommended Apollo Crews and Rich Swann to WWE's Executive Chairman.
Henry worked for WWE between 1996 and 2021 before joining AEW. In the early 2010s, he watched Crews and Swann in Japanese promotion, Dragongate, and thought they would be good additions to the WWE roster.
On Chris Van Vliet's Insight podcast, Henry disclosed details of the conversation he had with McMahon about the former tag team partners:
"I went to Vince, and I said, 'Hey, man, like I saw these two guys in Japan, they crazy, man. Like they doing stuff that our cruiserweights are not doing.' And he said, 'Well, what do you mean?' I was like, 'They're bigger, they’re more muscle, they're extremely talented, and they're doing moves that I haven't seen our guys do.'"
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Henry now works as a behind-the-scenes coach in AEW. He scouted many high-profile wrestlers before they made it in the business, including Baron Corbin, Bianca Belair, Braun Strowman, and Jade Cargill.
How Vince McMahon responded to Mark Henry
Apollo Crews and Rich Swann's contracts in Japan were set to expire, meaning they were free to sign with another wrestling company.
@The_yellowbone I might be one of the few, but i don't care; Rich Swann deserves another run with the IMPACT World Title. https://t.co/rgXTbGierF
Mark Henry told Vince McMahon he was going to fly Crews and Swann back to America to attend WWE tryouts:
"He said, 'Well, can you get them to come in?' And I was like, 'Yeah, I got them flights with my money.' (...) And reached out and found out that their contracts were up and that they were going to come back to the States, and they didn't know what was next. I was what was next."
In 2015, both men signed with WWE. Crews recently returned to the RAW brand from NXT, while Swann won the IMPACT World Championship after leaving WWE in 2018.
What do you make of the way Vince McMahon booked Apollo Crews and Rich Swann? Let us know in the comments section below.