WWE Hall of Famer tells how Vince McMahon "guilt-tripped" him into not retiring
Current and past WWE Superstars have revealed how WWE Chairman Vince McMahon is persuasive and pushes his ideas, while also helping Superstars make tough decisions.
According to WWE news and rumors WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry recently divulged in an interview about how McMahon convinced him not to retire. Henry was seriously considering retiring from WWE and he revealed in an interview with Heavy that Vince McMahon guilt-tripped and implored him to not retire so soon.
"'Man, you’re too young. You haven’t even starting giving back to the business yet.' And he implored – and he guilt-tripped the s**t out of me [laughs]…I didn’t want to leave the business worse than I found it, I wanted to leave the business to be better when I left. And I said you know what? I’m doing my thing but I can do more…I was like if we’re going to do it, let’s do it in a big way. And he was able to say man what are you thinking? It was only just me and him. Never told anybody."
The idea that Henry is referring to is the Hall of Pain segment where he and WWE swerved fans completely back in 2013. The WWE Hall of Famer was teasing a potential retirement, as he made telling posts on social media. Then, in a segment featuring John Cena, he revealed that he was going to retire, but then turned heel and attacked Cena.
Henry said that no one knew about the retirement turn except him and McMahon. They "flipped the script" on the day of the show and no one knew, even those in WWE production and no one else in the company. He called it a "Vince McMahon original".
That segment and feud with Cena is widely regarded as one of the best of Henry's in his Hall of Fame career, and perhaps one of the most shocking swerves in WWE history.
Henry is no longer an active wrestler, with his last in-ring appearance coming in 2018 at the Greatest Royal Rumble PPV in Saudi Arabia. The WWE Hall of Famer was one of the 50 men to take part in the Royal Rumble match at that PPV. He does make appearances as an analyst on WWE Backstage and PPVs.
In the same interview, Henry also revealed an incredible anecdote about the power that Vince McMahon has not just in and around the WWE arena, but outside of it as well.