WWE News: Mark Henry Makes Bold Claim About How WWE Treats African American Superstars
What's the story?
Former World Champion and The World's strongest man, Mark Henry, did an interview with TMZ to discuss his new show, Busted Open and no topics were left untouched during the conversation. In fact, the narrative went everywhere from ranking the top African-American wrestlers in history, to Kofi Kingston's big WWE title win, but it didn't stop there.
Interestingly enough, Henry also discussed where he thought WWE was diversity wise and if African American competitors were treated fairly, which is an interesting topic given today's political climate. With that being said, however, Henry had some pretty surprising answers and they can indeed be backed up with WWE actions over the last couple of decades.
In case you didn't know...
Mark Henry is one of the most tenured superstars in WWE's illustrious history and while he never got a chance to hold the company's main title, he did have a few runs with their heavyweight belt. He was also a former ECW champion when the brand was revived in the late 2000s, which is yet another feather in his cap.
Beyond all that, Henry is now a WWE Hall of Famer and has acted as a spokesperson for the company since his in-ring retirement a few years ago. If nothing else, Henry is one of WWE's most legitimate athletes, especially with his Olympic and bodybuilding experience, thus making him a very unique entity to the company.
Henry was also very vocal about Hulk Hogan needing to apologize after his embarrassing sex tape dropped a couple of years ago, which Henry found offensive. WWE quickly rectified the situation by temporarily removing Hogan from The Hall of Fame and when he finally was reinserted into the history, it wasn't before he had apologized to the locker room for his actions.
The Heart of The Matter
Mark Henry spoke with TMZ about a myriad of topics, including Kofi Kingston becoming WWE champion at WrestleMania 35, his ranking of the top African American wrestlers in WWE history and where exactly the company is when it comes to the all-important question of diversity in the workplace.
"When I came into wrestling there were 3 people, 3 black people in the company, Henry told TMZ when asked about whether each race was treated equally in the locker room," There is growth. There is a future for the African-American in pro wrestling, and ya know, I want to be a part of that as much as I can."
He also went on to claim that WWE has no problem with diversity and also told TMZ that African American competitors have been absolutely treated fairly by the company. While some fans might disagree with that assessment, especially with how long it took between African American champions, one also has to consider the plethora of high profile opportunities that different wrestlers have been receiving lately.
For example, Kofi Kingston is now The WWE Champion and the big star on Smackdown Live, The New Day is one of the company's signature gimmicks and other talents like Appollo Crews, Bobby Lashley, and Ember Moon all seem to have great opportunities ahead of them as well.
As if that wasn't enough to prove that the winds of change are prevalent in The WWE, the company also has stars like Lio Rush, Byron Saxton and Cedric Alexander in high profile roles as well. Not only does this show that Henry is right in saying that there are a lot of more opportunities available now for African American wrestlers, but it also proves how much WWE has really changed over the last couple of decades.
What's next?
Kofi Kingston is now The WWE Champion and while some fans are worried that the reign won't last very long, they should really be focusing on taking in every moment of this historic reign. fans also need to realize that Henry's words ring true. The industry is changing and opportunities aren't presented based on skin color, but actual talent.
In the end, competitors like Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, Big E Langston, Apollo Crews, Ember Moon, and Bobby Lashley have all proven examples of that and its got to be an exciting time as a fan to see where it goes from here. It will also be interesting to see who becomes the next African American world champion and if they are able to cement themselves into history.