WWE Hall of Famer Opens Up About How Vince McMahon Treated Him

Earlier on this week, WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry revealed on Stone Cold Steve Austin’s podcast how threatening to beat up Shawn Michaels actually helped transform his career.

However, that is not the only interesting thing to come from the interview. Henry also spoke to Austin about his great relationship with WWE boss Vince McMahon:

“There’s a lot of trust and a lot of respect with Vince because was always a straight shooter with me. I’ve always heard these stories of him double crossing people but he never did that for me. He respected me as a man and he knew I wasn’t a punk or be wishy washy. He knew when I walked into his office that there’s a level of love and respect that we have for each other other. He’s told me he loves me and I told him I love him back and more than anything I respect what I’ve learned from him.”

The “World’s Strongest Man” revealed the impact that Vince had on his career:

“A lot of people of power hide knowledge and teaching is the key. Vince didn’t have to teach me the understanding of pro-wrestling but he did. And I provide for my family based off what I learned from this human being. I’ve had people offer me more money during that time of the wars, but I didn’t take it. I was loyal because he was the one who got me into wrestling and that’s where I was going to stay. He knew that because I told him…I didn’t tell him because I wanted them to up my pay, I told him because I’m not going.”

Henry claimed that while some might see Mr. McMahon as rude, he is just telling the truth from his perspective:

“He knows who I am and we’ve fought and argued, and he’s told me, ‘Hey, that’s not smart.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, you didn’t have to tell me that I wasn’t smart’ and he said, ‘That wouldn’t be me being honest.’ He’s telling you the truth from his perspective. It might not be gentle or coddling but he’s telling you his truth. If you feel like he’s wrong, then prove it to him. Tell him where he’s wrong. He’s not going to fire you or b—h and moan at you cause you proved him wrong. Tell him, ‘Hey man, you’re wrong. This is where you’re wrong.’ He’ll say, ‘Oh, let’s fix that’. He will resent you if he cannot trust you to be a man of your word in your character. There’s a certain level of respect I have for someone who is going to give me the truth and nothing but the truth.”

Henry’s best years arguably came towards the end of his career during his “Hall of Pain” gimmick. The run actually saw him capture the World Heavyweight Championship.

Speaking of his transition into the new gimmick, Henry had the following to say:

“Vince got me to portray how I really felt. I told him I didn’t want to do it because I didn’t want people to see me hate because I was basically being what people thought I was anyways. I walk down the street and woman change their purse to the other side and they move to the other side of the street. I’m a human being. I didn’t want to be a negative, I wanted to transcend the negative.”

He recalled his Vince managed to “unlock the monster” in him after a practical joke during a match with Sin Cara:

“Vince played a practical joke on me to unlock the monster in me. I had a match against Sin Cara. The music plays but no Sin Cara. They play the music again, no Sin Cara. I ask the referee and he says he doesn’t know. Then they play someone else’s music. Then they play Ray Mysterio’s music. Then they play Vader’s music. Vader’s been retired from wrestling for like eight years. Now I’m getting angry because I’m realizing I’m being ribbed. I get the microphone and I start talking about how I hate everybody. Shoot.”

Mark Henry spoke about his “shoot” promo and the backstage reaction afterwards:

“‘You bring me out here and embarrass me in front of everybody. It’s a dark match. You’re probably laughing back there, let’s see if you’re laughing when I get back there.’ I get to Guerrilla and it’s a ghost town. I run to Vince’s office and he’s gone. I called him and cussed his ass out….I said to my wife that I’m done. Vince called me the next week, ‘Big Mark, you coming to work?’ And I said, ‘No, Vince you hurt my feelings. Nobody is allowed to hurt my feelings’. And Vince said, ‘That wasn’t my intention. I wasn’t trying to hurt your feelings. I was trying to get you mad. I was trying to kick you in the ass.’ So, I flew to Baltimore for SmackDown and he said, ‘I want you to see something.’ Calls the guys in the truck and says, ‘Play that footage from last week’. And it was me. I don’t even recognize. That wasn’t me. That was a monster. I was stomping mad. Stomping my feet like a little kid. Never in my life have I done that. That was probably the most mad I’d ever been in my life. Vince said. ‘If you can be that guy, you can make a lot of money. Which means the business will be better and we all make a lot of money. I said, ‘I can’t control that.’ And Vince said, ‘Yes, you can. I’ll help you control it’. And he did. Hall of Pain era. Best four years of my career and it put me in the Hall of Fame.”

Thanks to WrestlingInc. for the transcription.

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