Passions, Drive, and Patience, the formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive. eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to peak performance. Superchargers, roof racks, exhaust kits, LED headlights, and more. Whether you're into speed, power, or style, eBay Motors has you covered. With over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die, you'll always find exactly what you're looking for. And with eBay guaranteed fit, your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back. Because with eBay Motors, you're burning rubber, not cash. With all the parts you'll need at the prices you want, it's easy to make your car the MVP and bring home huge wins. Keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com. Analogable items only, exclusions apply. At King's Super's Pharmacy, care is making it easy to get vaccinated. Care is helping you stay protected from flu, COVID, and RSV. Seasonal vaccines are available seven days a week with evening hours. Care is giving you a shot at staying healthy this season. Walk in whenever is best and get multiple vaccines in one visit at your local King's Super's Pharmacy. So come and get the protection you need while protecting those around you. King's Super's, a world of care, is in store. Visit KingSupers.com/vaccines for more, restrictions and exclusions apply seaside for details. When you need meal time inspiration, it's worth shopping King's Super's for thousands of appetizing ingredients that inspire countless mouth-watering meals. And no matter what tasty choice you make, you'll enjoy our everyday low prices, plus extra ways to save, like digital coupons worth over $600 each week and up to $1 off her gallon at the pump with points so you can get big flavors and big savings. King's Super's, fresh for everyone, fuel restrictions apply. What's up you guys? Sean Ross Sapp, welcome to Fightful here with a name you know. How could you not know him, former World Heavyweight champion, Hall of Famer. You saw him this past weekend at MLW Battle Riot, now a free agent. We got Mark Henry here, how are you doing man? Man, I'm doing great. I mean, I mentioned all the places we've seen you. You also are an enabler of Denise Salcedo, you're on a show with her every week. I mean listen, I got her on Mondays and then I got to hear her tell me how she got to hang out with you like every weekend. You know what man, I love Denise, Denise is hilarious and she's not even trying to be. She was trying to be funny, maybe she wouldn't be, I don't know. Amazing. Well, as I mentioned, we saw you at MLW Battle Riot. I'm so fascinated with how this came together because it was very quick. Like, we had posted a report that we had heard your contract was coming up. You confirmed that and said, you know what, I'm going to be hitting free agency. Next thing we know, you are at MLW, so that ball had to get rolling pretty quick. I've been friends with court and Alex Greenfield forever and you know, sometimes you have relationships with people. It's not the same as being friends with people. Like I know those guys, like they were friends of mine and you know, like when you're a friend of somebody, you don't have to talk to them every day to still have that respect and admiration for them. And that's what it is, especially Alex, man, like we just get each other and the people that I have those relationships with and wrestling, if they call me and say, even if it's last minute and they call me and say, hey, would you be willing to do this? All right, well, let's do it. I just want to come see you know, so that's what it ended up being. Being able to see the product, well, I've watched it online and stuff, but to be able to see the product in person and meet a lot of the talent, which a lot of them already knew and you start to see some of your friends, kids being the business, like it's, it just don't get better than that. And I had that over there at MLW. You mentioned that your son is interested in possibly taking up pro wrestling in the future. MLW has been like the launching pad for an awful lot of second generation, third generation wrestlers. Brian Pillman, Jr. got a big start there. This generation of the font, Eric's a ton of that. Do you see that or anywhere as a possible landing point one day if your son does decide to take up pro wrestling? Well, I told them before he comes to America and becomes a mainstream name, he better travel the world first. And so he understands that he's going to have to go to Japan, that he's going to have to go to Australia, that he's going to have to go to Africa and Mexico and Canada and do tours for about a calendar year and work out all the bugs, learn to work out with different people, styles, learn to exist in locker rooms. That's the stuff that I didn't get when I, I'm not going to do to him what happened to me, you know, like that's, that's what fathers are supposed to do. Jacob is a stereotypical second generation wrestler. His understanding of pro wrestling is elite. I mean, he can, you know, hell, I'll set it up for you. I don't have to be present. Sure. He can come on this show with you and you'll come away from it going, holy shit, like this dude is, he for real because his understanding of wrestling and the psychology of it, not just, it hurt me to break it on. It was like at 11 years old, I had to tell him that Santa Claus wasn't real. Yeah. You know, for wrestling and that what we do is based on psychology and sometimes it's the Bible, sometimes it's simple, good versus evil, fast versus slow, big versus small, like learn to tell a story in every moment. And he was like, but y'all thought and I'm like, baby, we, we, we, we went at each other, but we know what we were doing, like we're professionals and one of these days you're going to be a professional and when you get there, you're going to be one of the best of them and he, but it comes with a price to pay. It's like that, the montage from the movie fame or the TV show and they tell you that it's blood, sweat and tears and you got to sacrifice and that's, that's pro wrestling. Like you give a piece of yourself every time you go out there and everybody's got a bump card and at some point, you know, it feels up and it's over and you, you want to be able to make that stretch out over 30 years and not have it fizzle out in three or four years. So he's been trained to be a guy with longevity. Speaking of the bump card, we saw your influence on pro wrestling continue this past week. I know you talked about this on busted open radio, but the AJ Styles swerve retirement and I love that you mentioned what to do signings together. You in the salmon jacket, him in the blue jacket, car. Oh, I love working, I'm trying to get a paycheck. I love it. I love it. What? How did you feel? I mean, you know, that, that is one thing everybody drew the comparison. Like even when I tweeted it, I said, AJ Styles still has a lot left in the tank. Like your influence there, what was felt so strongly, how did that feel for you to see that romanticized so much by, by wrestling fans? I loved it. I feel a sense of pride when I'm being honored and you know, WrestleMania, Bianca Belair did a Mark Henry spot and walked up the steps and and and press the opponent into the ring. And you know, like when whenever people do stuff like that, Braun Strowman did it several times. I just feel like a sense of accomplishment. It's like, you know, you feel like a proud Papa and you know, I got a tweet or a text message from AJ Styles saying, man, I hope I made you proud. And like it made my eyes well up. So like the having an effect on people is sometimes greater than you doing it yourself. Yeah. I don't know if if I explain that properly, but I get it for sure. Like I just, I felt in my heart enough to make me tear up. So that was, that was pretty damn special. I think that you have the most appropriate theme song in the history of pro wrestling. Like every time I heard that music and I saw you walk into the ring, I was like, yep, I believe every lyric, every word, three, six mafia is saying right here. I believe somebody is about to get their ass kicked. What was it like for you the first time you heard that and you were told this is going to be your theme song because it is, it is so identifiable now. Well, when I first heard it, there were no lyrics. Okay. We were just the, the music and at that time, Jim Johnson had me talk to Juicy J and we talked for about an hour and a half and I told him about my childhood and where I came from and my mentality and he was able to pull from what I said and write that song. And this is a guy that won a Grammy just a few months before and we talked about Memphis. I spent a lot of time in Memphis. I had been, my first, Memphis was the first wrestling territory I ever worked in. There were still territories when I came into wrestling that tells you how long ago that was. And that 28 years ago, the being Memphis with Jerry Lawler and working, you know, like the all of the territory shows around Memphis, man, I grew to love Memphis and when I mentioned that and started telling, oh, yeah, I know that place. So we had, we get it off. So I knew he was going to do a good job. Yeah. Once, when I left that conversation, I couldn't wait until I heard it. Like it was two weeks later, I got the TV and they said, you want to hear it? And I was like, yeah, yeah. And I remember sitting there listening and he was saying, what did, he was like, man, this is like, he was me. Yeah. And I'm like, how in the hip, that's the artistry of music, man. I don't think like that. I think in promo form, I think I'm talking to you. I want you to see and feel what I'm saying to you. Look at me when I'm talking to you, you know, like that kind of thing. And now when you do that, people will go, oh, shit, like, they'll look at you because you, you commanded them to do something. And that, that's what people do with music. And he did that. I mean, I've had a thousand people come up to me in my life. Hey, man, your song is on my workout playlist. You know, whenever I get ready to do a heavy bench or heavy squat, you know, I've got to play somebody who's going to get it. It's so good. So they did that, man. You also made your imprint in AEW, you got over just saying, it's time for the minute. It's so good. I noticed it stopped. When I asked about it, because we had people in our Q&A saying, why isn't that happening anymore? It was too over. Yeah, I was told, like, maybe it wasn't a talent thing. Really? You can't be more over than the talent. So like at what point did you realize, all right, this is clicking. This is going really well for me. You know what, man, Tony, people are going to say negative things about Tony. Communication is the key. Like I was able to communicate with Tony. Tony is the boss. So he don't have to do nothing that I say, you know, like he's the boss. But I wish that he would allow me to help him be even more the boss because talent will always try to lead you to do it their way to make it fit them rather than make it fit the company. And I just wanted AEW to do well. And I don't disrespect no individual talent. There's not no wrestler ever say Mark Henry shit on me except for maybe I'm Ed Johnson and a Ryback. But they deserve every bit of venom that I was spit at the ass. But I've never ever been, I might critique things from an educated standpoint. But I don't target people. I don't try to belittle anyone. You know, I want to do just that or critique is the point to get it fixed. I want it to get fixed. Yeah. And there's some people that just criticize for click bait or to, you know, try to make it seem like, oh, I was great and you were the shits. Those people, I don't talk to people like that. There's no wrestler that could say that they are friend of mine and they run talent down. And I remember talking to L.A. Knight at WrestleMania last year and he came on the show. And I mentioned, I said, you know what, I'm really proud that you have been able to find your way and make things yours because there was a time when I was very critical of you because you did more copying than he said, yeah, yeah, I remember you. You were pretty damn critical. And I said, look, if you felt like there was an issue, you should have called me. Yeah. There's a thousand people over there with my phone number. And if I thought that somebody that I have respect for or that I knew can teach me something and they said, you know what, Mark, you're good, but this is, you might want to try this or do it. I'm going to listen and I'm going to try to fix it. That's why I have success. You don't become a world champion in three sports that have nothing to do with each other because you that damn live. God gave me some unusual gifts and a lot of confidence. But he also allowed passion, drive and patience. The formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive. eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to peak performance. Uber chargers, roof racks, exhaust kits, LED headlights and more, whether you're into speed, power or style, eBay Motors has you covered. With over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die, you'll always find exactly what you're looking for. And with eBay guaranteed fit, your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back because with eBay Motors, you're burning rubber, not cash. With all the parts you need, at prices you want, it's easy to make your car the MVP and bring home huge wins. Keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com. Eligible items only, exclusions apply, ebaymotors.com. At King Super's pharmacy, care is making it easy to get vaccinated. Care is helping you stay protected from flu, COVID and RSV. All vaccines are available seven days a week with evening hours. Care is giving you a shot at staying healthy this season. Walk in whenever is best and get multiple vaccines in one visit at your local King Super's pharmacy. So come and get the protection you need while protecting those around you. King Super's, a world of care, is in store. Visit king supers.com/vaccines for more restrictions and exclusions apply seaside for details. You mentioned your incredible physical capabilities. We all remember your feet of strengths that you would show off in WWE. Were there ever any that WWE pitched and you're like, "That's not humanly possible," or anything just completely out of the blue that you're like, "You know, I don't know if any human can do that." You know what? When I pulled the two semis, I had never done that before. Okay. And when I did it, it looked too easy for Vince. He said, "Wow, that's impressive." He said, "But it was easy. Can you pull two?" And I said, "What?" I said, "No, 17,000 pounds." He said, "You can do two." And yeah, I ended up doing two, but my ankles and feet hurt for like a month. It took me a long time to recover. Like, I mean, it really, really hurt me and that's, you know, you just have to be able to monitor. I'm not complaining of putting no blame on Vince, like, you know, people in television are always going to push you to do bigger and better because we don't have CGI. Yes. We don't have smoke and mirrors, you either can or can't. And luckily enough, I could, but I'm more impressed, like, you know, my lifting accomplishments, you know, speak for themselves, but the fact that I had at 375 pounds to have a 9 foot standing broad jump in a 33 inch vertical, I challenge anybody in the world to go find somebody, go find them, see if they exist. We would often hear stories about you, like, dunking basketballs and stuff, and when you go. Yeah, googling. Googling. There's videos of me dunking in at the footlock at Slamfest. You know, I competed in the Celebrity Slam dunk contest at the State Basketball Tournament in Texas. One of the guys asked me, you know, could you still dunk? And I had on dress shoes and blue jeans, and I said, probably, and I dunked at the Erwin Center in front of 15,000 people, people lost their damn minds overdone. But I'm not six seven, I'm just a shade under six four. So you gotta have ups. It's so funny that I use this as an example, but when AEW or WWE take their show out of the arena, I often think back to, I think it was a segment with you and Delo at a strip club, I think it was. And I was like, I love stuff like that, like, just take it out of the venue. Show us a different setting. And I don't know why that's the one that stuck with me in my mind. Listen, you trying to get an invitation? I'm retired. I've been in a few years, it's been about five or ten years. But I'm like, how do you clear, like, was it a legit strip club and like, how do you, how do you even negotiate something like that? You know what? I don't even know, man. I can't remember how all of that stuff took place. I think my favorite one was me and me young at the hotel on Valentine's Day. Like that was the one that was the best one. Me and China's date where I took care of the dinner and we went to a bar and we danced and ended up getting in the fight with the people. That was probably my second favorite. But me and D-Lo going to a strip joint, you know, all of them stuff, I only remember those. They weren't as memorable as the ones that stick out in my mind, but me and me and me and me and China had a lot of fun. I often am interested in how, like, people are approached and find out about important moments of their career. And I'm so interested to find out how that happened with you and the nation and domination. Because I mean, obviously, that is a group that people still talk about today. The great section is all done. Yeah. What is it? I said the best faction of all time. I would agree so. It's hard to argue. I know, especially considering the pedigrees that happen both prior and after where you've got like three or four world champions involved in one faction. How were you first approached about that and what was your reaction? I think it was the first person that said something to me was Vince and then Ron Simmons and the rock both said, "Hey, you need to go down to the ring because they want to talk to all of us together." And I'm like, "All of us, who is us?" And then Dwayne proceeded to telling me that, "Yeah, it's going to be my thing. I'm going to bring you into the nation to help us." And I was like, "Oh shit, I was in shock." I was like, "Man, this is awesome." And I was kind of like the heavy, like the Folger Arms bodyguard type of dude at first. And man, it was a surprise that they were making. I just thought that I was going to go out there and do something with them and it was like a one-off. I didn't think that that's what Vince meant when he said that he was going to put me with them tonight. That's incredible. It really is. Not only is that incredible, but you've got an incredible eye for talent. Like, I remember the story you told a few years ago about how you lied about Brian Danielson's size to help get him into WWE. And everybody knows about your influence in getting your love. He was good though, man. I know. Like, I mean, I say that like you don't know what the hell I'm talking about. I saw him on TV, like he was on a ROH match. Well, he was actually, I saw him on ROH after the fact, but he wrestled some spot showing Canada and I just happened to be in Canada. And I'm looking at flipping the channels and I see this dude in burgundy shorts wrestling somebody, I don't get Paul Birchel, somebody, he was wrestling with somebody. And I was like, you know, you get excited and there's nobody to talk to. Yes. Like, I'm in the room, like, looking around like, yes, damn, like, wow, this dude is good. And I called, who did I call in Canada to see if he knew the promotion, damn, the Jimmy Cordares. Oh, yeah. The referee. Jimmy Cordares. I said, Jimmy, what is this wrestling company so and so I can't even remember it now. It wasn't stampede. It was something else. And he said, oh, yeah, I know that guy. I said, man, call him and ask them who this guy is. If they got the information, like, how can I get a hold of it? And I called him. I got his phone number and I said, hey, man, this is Mark Henry, man, man, you good as hell, man. I was like, you, you, you have interest in going to, like, WWE or a WWE, what's it? Yeah, it might have been WWE. He, I know he started when it was WWF, but then when he finally came in, it was WWE. Yeah. So it was WWF at the time. And he said, yeah, man, yeah, I'd love to if I can get a shot. And I said, well, they told me that they, you know, they wanted me to help scout. And, you know, I'm, I'm going to suggest you. So I'm going to give them your information and he said, okay. And I, I talked with Johnny Laurynitis and I Johnny said, how big is he? And I was like, shit, he got to be, I've never seen him in person. I said, you got to be like six feet tall, maybe 200 pounds, like it was just an exaggeration, not because I was being shady, but just because I didn't know. And I was just, like, his talent was so immense that it made me think he was bigger. Yeah. You know what I mean? And like he got to Orlando or not Orlando, it was in Tampa at the time. He got to Tampa and I remember Johnny calling me, hey, Steve Kern said, this guy is small. And I was like, I was like, what do you mean, small? And he's like, I told you we were looking for big guys and he was fussing at me, right? Yeah. And I'm like, did y'all watch him work? And he's like, well, I haven't seen anything. I'm going over there tonight, you know, for a little while. And then about four hours later, I get a phone call, man, that, that, that boy can go. And I was like, good job, Mark, and I was like, Oh, God, just kissing me out just a minute ago. And it's not even just him. Like Braun Strowman has credited you for finding him, Jake Kargill, Apollo Cruz, who had a name on the Indies, but and a lot of people were saying that, but you putting your stamp on him really helped. Yeah. And very important as well as sitting here, very instrumental. Yeah. And Rich Swan was over there in Japan at the same time, too. People think that I just watched wrestling in America, man, I watched wrestling to entertain myself. Like there was a time when I didn't even watch regular TV. All I did was watch wrestling because I love wrestling. And when you watch as much wrestling as I do, you just have an understanding of it that's greater than the average, not even average, even the elite guys, don't always see what I see. I see it before it happens. So I see people like Bianca. I saw Bianca at a CrossFit deal, and she's supposed to be trying to win a CrossFit competition. But she was exerting energy that she didn't have to exert. She would do a clean or snatch, throw it down, do a cartwheel, go to another lift. And then she would do a lift, and then she would do a backflip, and then she would run. I'm like, what is she doing? She was an entertainer. Yeah. She was designed to be a pro wrestler. So when I see people that are in their gift, and I go, oh, you're in the wrong place. You need to be over here. And so that's kind of like my gift, is just being able to see it before it happens. So as we wrap up a reminder, everybody, check out MLW every week. But you always get it. You always have people tweeting you about it. It's been six years since your last match. Have you put that to bed, the possibility of doing another one? Are you keeping that option open? I got about five bumps left in me, and they won't happen for about three years. Because once Jacob gets out of college, and he goes into wrestling, I'm going to have to stand on the apron, and somebody's going to have to come bump me, and he's going to beat the shit out of me. There we go. There we go. I love it. I love it. Man, I could talk to you about wrestling all day. I learned so much just listening to you guys can learn an awful lot. Listen to Mark Henry on "Busted Open" all the time. Check it out if you can suffer through Denise Salcedo. You get to hear Mark Henry and that's the reward for the suffering through Denise Salcedo. But also check out Mark on MLW as well. Mark, I want to thank you so much, man. It's been a long time coming, my first time interviewing you, one off the bucket list for sure. Well, man, I enjoy the man like you're not as horrible a guy as people perceive you to see. See, see, I'm a great guy. I am a great guy, verified, wonderful guy. So, Ralph, now you got to go to dmarkhenry.com and check out the remarkable brand, because there's going to be a lot of other athletes on there, and I'm going to shine the light on some talent that need to have the light shine on them, that are not getting the attention that they need or deserve. And just keep your ear to the street, because I'm about to do something that's going to be pretty damn impressive in the world of pro wrestling. And I couldn't do that as an employee. I had to be my own boss. We encourage everybody to check that out as well. Guys, until next time, we're out. 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