“The World Strongest Man” Mark Henry is officially retired. The news, first reported by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, was expected because Henry has said publicly that he would not be signing another “active performer” deal with the company and he’s talked about wanting to do other things outside of wrestling.
The 46-year old hasn’t wrestled a match since the Andre The Giant Battle royal at last year’s WrestleMania. In fact, he only wrestled 3 matches last year (Royal Rumble, Mania, and a match on Raw to put over Braun Strowman).
On Monday, Northeast Wrestling announced that he would be appearing at their show on Friday, March 2nd in Waterbury, CT. He will not be wrestling but he’ll be there to sign autographs. Perhaps, he’ll get involved somehow but he is not booked for an actual match. The booking is further confirmation that he is done because a full-time performer would not be working on an independent wrestling show. Part-timers and employees like Booker T and Jerry Lawler are allowed to take outside wrestling bookings. The Northeast Wrestling show is also advertising Rey Mysterio, Tenille Dashwood (fka Emma), Deonna Purrazzo, Fip Gordon and Matt Riddle.
Henry has been with WWE since 1996 and has always been one of their “go to” guys whenever they needed a monster performer to help make one of their top guys look credible. In recent years, he’s been putting over the current talent. I wouldn’t rule out an occasional surprise appearance but his full-time wrestling days are over.
Check out some of the trending wrestling news stories below:
- SPOILER: Major match with a returning Superstar planned for WrestleMania
- Headliner for WWE Hall Of Fame reportedly confirmed and it’s a big one
- Former WWE Women’s/Divas Champion contacted about returning for the women’s Royal Rumble
- SPOILER: Another name returning for the Raw 25th anniversary show
- Former WWE Women’s Champion is returning for the Royal Rumble
