WWE News: Former WWE World Champion Officially Retires From Wrestling
While recent news has hit of a young star being forced to quit wrestling, another elder WWE superstar has also announced retirement. For a while, there were rumors and reports that Big Show and Mark Henry were both hanging up their ring gear soon. Now, the latest word is that “The World’s Strongest Man” has officially retired ahead of the 2018 Royal Rumble pay-per-view.
According to Sportskeeda’s Daniel Wood, said that Wrestling Observer Newsletter‘s Dave Meltzer relayed the news that Mark Henry has officially retired from “in-ring action.” There had been speculative reports that Henry was done as of late last year as he hadn’t been appearing on television or at pay-per-views. With the news that Henry is done in the ring, there has also been news he will continue to work within the company in a backstage role to help with production.
“The World’s Strongest Man” worked in a wrestling capacity with WWE since 1996. His career spanned two decades and he is one of those superstars who remained true to the company throughout that time. Many other stars left and came back to the company but Henry was one who was known for his loyalty. Not only that, he was known for his role in the “Nation of Domination” and his “Hall of Pain” run.
He earned the moniker of “World’s Strongest Man” due to his impressive resume in powerlifting. That included championships or records set in high school, college, and in the U.S. National Weightlifting Championships. While Henry never achieved any Olympic medals, he finished in 10th place during the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.
In addition, Henry achieved several championships during his time in WWE including the European Championship, ECW Championship, and the WWE Heavyweight Championship. His major title win came with a victory over “The Viper” Randy Orton at Night of Champions 2011, as seen below. The man synonymous with the “Hall of Pain” will certainly be entered into WWE’s Hall of Fame after an impressive career over the past two decades.
Mark Henry will definitely be missed in the upcoming Royal Rumble 2018 match. There are betting odds available for possible surprise entrants in the men’s Rumble match and as of this report, Henry still has 6 to 5 odds to make an “in-ring appearance.” However, there are also other stars on the list including CM Punk, Shaquille O’Neal, Ryback, and Edge, who all seem like serious long shots to appear.
That said, Henry might be missed in the ring, but his experience and insight into wrestling over his lengthy career will certainly be a boost for the backstage production team.
