Mark Henry says WWE icon's WrestleMania entrance made him a wrestling fan again
Mark Henry is relishing his role in wrestling at the moment. The WWE Hall of Famer is now a key backstage figure in AEW while also regularly featuring on Busted Open Radio alongside fellow legends Bully Ray and Tommy Dreamer. On the latest episode, they discussed their favorite WrestleMania entrances and Henry revealed that a WWE icon's entrance made him a wrestling fan again.
Mark Henry has crossed paths with the biggest names in the industry and has faced the likes of The Undertaker at WrestleMania. He even had a fruitful and dominant world title run, one that was essentially a reward for his years of service to WWE. He took his rightful place in the Hall of Fame in 2018. Three years later, he signed with All Elite Wrestling.
Mark Henry, Bully Ray, and Tommy Dreamer were a part of the discussion on Busted Open Radio with the entire episode dedicated to iconic WrestleMania entrances. Henry specifically mentioned WWE icon John Cena's WrestleMania 25 entrance, where he had an army of look-alikes as he entered the ring. He said that the entrance made him a wrestling fan again:
"I'm going to let you all know that first off, I'm a big Eminem fan. That being said, Mr. Bully Ray, when John Cena did the army of John Cena's like Eminem did - going out on stage and the way they walked to the ring on both sides, and then they came together like a military time and they all had their heads down like they're bowing to the ring. And then you hear Cena's music and they split over and did a uniform salute at the same time, and suddenly John Cena came out and they started doing the 'You can't see me'. That made me a fan again."
"That entrance made me a fan again and I knew John Cena. When he came to me after the match was over, and he did some impressive s**t in the match. Him AAing Big Show and Edge at the same time? S**t! How can you not like that dude? How can you not like him? That's why I considered it the best entrance I ever saw." [5:45-7:49]
Cena would go on to defeat Edge and The Big Show that night to claim the World Heavyweight Championship. He would lose the title back to The Rated-R Superstar soon after in a rare instance of him losing a rivalry - something that simply didn't happen before he transitioned into a part-timer in 2015.
"It was so different..."
What is YOUR favorite #WrestleMania entrance ever? 🤔
@davidlagreca1 @bullyray5150 @THETOMMYDREAMER @TheMarkHenry give their take on this week's edition of 'The Master's Class' ...
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Mark Henry and John Cena were responsible for one of the best WWE moments of the decade
#OnThisDay in 2013, Mark Henry gave a great retirement speech on #WWERaw...... Seconds later @JohnCena is lying on his back. One of the greatest bits of storytelling on Raw EVER
@TheMarkHenry let us know where the Salmon Jacket is from. The Beermat team need those 😊
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Mark Henry must have been more than happy when he was one of the first challengers for John Cena's WWE Championship in 2013. It was only a couple of months after Cena ended his feud with The Rock.
By that point, Henry was among the longest-tenured members on the WWE roster, and he cut an emotional promo in the ring telling the world that he had decided to call it quits and would go and spend time with his family.
What was initially an emotional moment turned out to be one of the greatest WWE segments of the decade as he trolled fans and attacked John Cena. The pink salmon suit is now considered one of the most iconic looks in WWE as it was what Mark Henry wore before he turned on the face of the company.
It led to a brief feud between the two where Cena would get the better of him. Although many felt that the storyline prompted a big win for the veteran Mark Henry, his time as a world champion had already passed two years before with his well-liked "Hall of Pain" run.