"I was in a state of shock!" - WWE Hall of Famer recalls Kofi Kingston's iconic WWE title victory
Former WWE Superstar and WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry has recalled his emotions and reactions to Kofi Kingston winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35, saying he was in "a state of shock."
The World's Strongest Man was a guest on the latest edition of WWE's The Bump where Henry, along with the panel, discussed the importance of Kingston's now-iconic championship victory and what it meant for people and performers of African descent.
Naturally, Mark Henry was overjoyed to see Kofi Kingston lift the richest prize in the WWE. Here is what he had to say on the victory:
"I told him, there was a video of MVP and Shad at an event and they were watching WrestleMania. They were watching Kofi win that title, and they both shed tears. I was there. I just kept saying that people just don’t know what this does. You don’t know what it does. And I kept saying that, and your favorite Busted Open host Dave Lagreca said “I get it. I know what it is.” I was just in a state of shock. I was like, this one of the top things, from my childhood to now, in pro wrestling."
Mark Henry on Kofi Kingston & African American representation in WWE
On the subject of Kofi Kingston, Henry was also quizzed on his thoughts on a photograph, showing numerous African American performers celebrating Kingston's big win.
While it was clearly a wonderful thing to see, Henry also noted the pressures of being in the position he was in when he first joined the wrestling business, highlighting an apparent lack of scouting for African American talent by WWE.
"It makes me feel warm inside. I was told when I first came in the business not to mess it up for everybody Black after you, by Ernie Ladd. I took that challenge and made it, you know, a reality. There was not a lot of scouting of African American talent, I was the first developmental talent."