Mark Henry, a name synonymous with strength, power, and professional wrestling, has embarked on a remarkable weight loss journey, inspiring fans worldwide. From his early days as a prodigious powerlifter to his celebrated career in WWE, Henry has always been known for his imposing physique. However, in recent years, he has transformed his body, shedding a considerable amount of weight and embracing a healthier lifestyle.
Early Life and Athletic Beginnings
Born in Silsbee, Texas, Mark Henry's fascination with wrestling began in his childhood, with André the Giant as his idol. Even as a young fan, his impressive size was apparent. At a wrestling show in Beaumont, Texas, young Henry tried to touch André as he was walking down the aisle, but tripped over the barricade.
Henry's journey into the world of strength sports took off when Terry Todd, a professor of kinesiology at the University of Texas at Austin and former weightlifter, noticed him at the Texas High School Powerlifting Championships in April 1990. Todd recognized Henry's raw talent and persuaded him to train in Olympic-style weightlifting after graduation.
In July 1990, at the USPF Senior National Powerlifting Championships, the 19-year-old Henry secured second place, only surpassed by the renowned six-time World Powerlifting Champion Kirk Karwoski. This early success highlighted Henry's natural aptitude for strength sports.
Transition to Olympic Weightlifting
While powerlifting emphasizes brute strength, Olympic weightlifting demands more agility, timing, flexibility, and technique. Despite the different requirements, Henry excelled in both disciplines, a rare feat in the world of lifting.
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At just 19, Henry qualified for the weightlifting competition at the 1992 Summer Olympics, finishing tenth in the Super-Heavyweight class. Ten months before the Olympics, Henry began training with Dragomir Cioroslan, a bronze medalist at the 1984 Summer Olympics, who said that he had "never seen anyone with Mark's raw talent". After the Olympics, Henry became more determined to focus on weightlifting and began competing all over the world. Although in early 1998 he was still able to do five repetitions in the bench press with 495 lb (225 kg), three repetitions in the squat with 855 lb (388 kg) (with no suit and no knee wraps), and three repetitions in the standing press with 405 lb (184 kg) in training, while traveling with the World Wrestling Federation, he never returned to compete again in official championships in favor of his wrestling career. He weighed 380 lb (170 kg) at that time, and his right upper arm was measured at 24" by Terry Todd.
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/WWE) Career
At the age of 24, Henry made his first appearance on World Wrestling Federation (WWF) programming on the March 11, 1996 episode of Monday Night Raw, where he press slammed Jerry Lawler, who was ridiculing Henry while interviewing him in the ring. After Henry competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics, the WWF signed him to a ten-year contract. Trained by professional wrestler Leo Burke, his first feud in the WWF was with Lawler. At the pay-per-view event, SummerSlam in August 1996, Henry came to the aid of Jake Roberts who was suffering indignity at the hands of Lawler. Henry's debut wrestling match was against Lawler in a house show at the Baltimore Arena on September 21, 1996. The following day, Henry defeated Lawler in a rematch at In Your House 10: Mind Games. The feud continued at house shows during subsequent weeks.
On the November 4 episode of Raw, Henry served as a cornerman for Barry Windham in a match against Goldust. He was set to team with Windham, Marc Mero and Rocky Maivia to take on the team of Lawler, Goldust, Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Crush at Survivor Series, but was replaced by Jake Roberts when he was forced to withdraw from the event due to injury. On the November 17 episode of WWF Superstars of Wrestling, Henry defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Crush, and Goldust in a tug of war contest. Henry also worked on several shows for United States Wrestling Association.
Henry joined the Nation of Domination faction with Faarooq, The Rock, Kama Mustafa, and D'Lo Brown on January 12, 1998. After The Rock usurped Faarooq's position as leader, Henry switched loyalties to The Rock. During the next year, Henry gave himself the nickname "Sexual Chocolate", adopting a ladies' man character.
In 2000, Henry was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) to improve his conditioning and wrestling skills. In OVW, he teamed with Nick Dinsmore to compete in a tournament for the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship in mid-2001. He also worked a couple of matches for Heartland Wrestling Association.
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World's Strongest Man Competition
Since Henry had only trained for four months and defeated the crème-de-là-crème of worldwide strongmen, who had been practicing for years, his win was a shock for strongman experts worldwide, but remained basically unnoticed by the wrestling audience. Henry proved to be worthy of the title "World's Strongest Man" not only by winning the contest, but also by achieving it in record time.
Henry returned to the WWF in April 2002 and was sent to the SmackDown! During the December 30, 2005 episode of SmackDown!, Henry made his return to television, as he interfered in a WWE Tag Team Championship match, joining with MNM (Joey Mercury, Johnny Nitro, and Melina), to help them defeat Rey Mysterio and Batista for the championship.
A week later on the January 6, 2006 episode of SmackDown!, Henry got in a confrontation with the World Heavyweight Champion, Batista, and went on to interfere in a steel cage match between MNM and the team of Mysterio and Batista, helping MNM to retain their titles. Henry then had another match with Batista at a live event where Batista received a severely torn triceps that required surgery, forcing him to vacate his title. On the January 13 episode of SmackDown!, Henry was involved in a Battle Royal for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship.
On the March 3 episode of SmackDown!, Henry interfered in a World Heavyweight Championship match between Angle and The Undertaker, attacking The Undertaker when he was seconds from possibly winning the title. Henry then performed a diving splash on The Undertaker, driving him through the announcer's table. Henry was then challenged to a casket match by The Undertaker at WrestleMania 22 on April 2. Henry vowed to defeat The Undertaker and end his undefeated streak at WrestleMania, but The Undertaker defeated him. There were talks about Henry ending the streak backstage, but did not succeed. In an interview on Heavy, Henry stated that the decision was close and that if they did ask him about it he would have refused, stating he did not want to carry that weight. Henry had a rematch against The Undertaker on the April 7 episode of SmackDown!. It ended in a no-contest when Daivari introduced his debuting client, The Great Khali.
During the rest of April and May, Henry gained a pinfall victory over the World Heavyweight Champion, Rey Mysterio in a non-title match. Henry entered the King of the Ring Tournament, and lost to Bobby Lashley in the first round. He later cost Kurt Angle his World Heavyweight Championship opportunity against Mysterio on the April 28 episode of SmackDown!, when he jumped off the top rope and crushed Angle through a table. Henry was then challenged by Angle to face off at Judgment Day on May 21.
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Henry later went on what was referred to as a "path of destruction", causing injuries to numerous superstars. Henry "took out" Chris Benoit and Paul Burchill on this path of destruction, and attacked Rey Mysterio and Chavo Guerrero. These events led up to a feud with the returning Batista, whom Henry had put out of action with a legitimate injury several months beforehand. When Batista returned he and Henry were scheduled to face one another at The Great American Bash on July 23. Weeks before that event, however, on the July 15 episode of Saturday Night's Main Event, Henry was involved in a six-man tag team match with King Booker and Finlay against Batista, Rey Mysterio, and Bobby Lashley. During the match, Henry was injured, canceling the scheduled match at The Great American Bash, as Henry needed surgery.
Henry returned on the May 11, 2007 episode of SmackDown!, after weeks of vignettes hyping his return. He attacked The Undertaker after a World Heavyweight Championship steel cage match with Batista, allowing Edge to take advantage of the situation and use his Money in the Bank contract. Henry then began a short feud with Kane, defeating him in a Lumberjack Match at One Night Stand on June 3. Shortly after, Henry made an open challenge to the SmackDown! locker room, which nobody ever accepted.
As part of the 2008 WWE Supplemental Draft, Henry was drafted to the ECW brand. At Night of Champions, Henry defeated Kane and Big Show in a triple threat match to capture the ECW Championship in his debut match as an ECW superstar. This was his first world championship in WWE, which also made him the fourth African-American world champion in WWE history. Upon winning the title, it was made exclusive to the ECW brand once again. Henry's title win came nearly a full decade after he was awarded the European Championship, which was back in 1999 and the only title he held in WWE.
On June 29, Henry was traded to the Raw brand and redebuted for the brand that night as the third opponent in a three-on-one gauntlet match against WWE Champion Randy Orton, which he won, turning Henry into a face in the process. In August 2009, Henry formed a tag team with Montel Vontavious Porter and the two challenged the Unified WWE Tag Team Champions Jeri-Show (Chris Jericho and The Big Show) for the title at Breaking Point, but were unsuccessful. They stopped teaming afterwards, becoming involved in separate storylines, until the February 15, 2010 episode of Raw in which they defeated the Unified WWE Tag Team Champions The Big Show and The Miz in a non-title match. The next week they challenged The Big Show and The Miz in a title match but were unsuccessful. At Extreme Rules, Henry and MVP fought for a chance to become number one contenders to the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship, but were the second team eliminated in a gauntlet match by The Big Show and The Miz.
Henry mentored Lucky Cannon in the second season of NXT. Cannon was eliminated on the August 10 episode of NXT. In September, Henry began teaming with Evan Bourne, starting at the Night of Champions pay-per-view, where they entered a Tag Team Turmoil for the WWE Tag Team Championship. They made it to the final two before being defeated by Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre. The team came to an end in October when Bourne suffered an injury and was taken out of action. Henry then formed a team with Yoshi Tatsu on the November 29 episode of Raw, defeating WWE Tag Team Champions Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater, after a distraction by John Cena. They received a shot at the championship the next week, in a fatal four-way elimination tag team match, which also included The Usos and Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov.
On the April 25, 2011 episode of Raw, Henry was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2011 WWE draft. In the main event of the night, Henry attacked his teammates John Cena and Christian, turning heel in the process. On the May 27 episode of SmackDown, Henry participated in a Triple Threat match against Sheamus and Christian to decide the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship, which was won by Sheamus.
On the June 17 episode of SmackDown, Henry was scheduled to face an angry and emotionally unstable Big Show, who warned Henry not to get into the ring; Henry ignored the warning and Big Show assaulted him before the match could begin. This act ignited a feud between the two; Henry attacked Big Show both backstage and during matches while on the July 1 episode of SmackDown, Big Show's music played during Henry's match against Randy Orton, causing Henry to be counted out and costing him a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship. Henry reacted by destroying the audio equipment and attacking a technician. Henry faced Big Show in a singles match at Money in the Bank and won.
On the October 7 episode of SmackDown, Big Show returned and chokeslammed Henry through the announce table, thus earning a title shot against Henry at Vengeance. During the match, Henry superplexed Big Show from the top rope, causing the ring to collapse from the impact and the match to be ruled a no contest. Henry began a feud with the Money in the Bank briefcase holder Daniel Bryan on the November 4 episode of SmackDown, challenging Bryan to a non-title match to prove that Bryan could not become champion. During the match, Big Show knocked out Henry, making him win by disqualification. Big Show then urged Bryan to cash in his contract, but Henry recovered and attacked both Bryan and Big Show before the match could start.
At Survivor Series, Henry retained the World Heavyweight Championship against Big Show after a low blow that disqualified Henry. Angered by Henry's cowardice, Big Show crushed Henry's ankle with a steel chair. On the November 25 episode of SmackDown, Henry was knocked out again by Big Show, at which point Bryan cashed in his briefcase for a title match and quickly pinned Henry. Then at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Henry lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Big Show in a chairs match.
After a nine-month absence, Henry made his return on the February 4, 2013 episode of Raw, brutally attacking Daniel Bryan, Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara. Four days later on SmackDown, Henry defeated Randy Orton to earn a spot in the number one contenders' Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship at Elimination Chamber. At the pay-per-view on February 17, Henry eliminated Daniel Bryan and Kane before being eliminated by Randy Orton. After his elimination, Henry attacked the three remaining participants before being escorted out by WWE officials. Henry then began a feud with Ryback after several non-verbal confrontations. On the March 15 episode of SmackDown, Henry was defeated by Ryback via disqualification, following interference from The Shield.
The Shift: Prioritizing Health and Fitness
While maintaining a massive physique was once essential for his career, Mark Henry recognized the importance of long-term health and well-being. The demands of professional wrestling and strength sports take a toll on the body, and Henry made a conscious decision to prioritize his health.
Now the WWE Hall of Famer has looked to make a change, namely to his physique. Mark Henry has embarked on a fitness journey to drop the pounds to a healthier weight. It appears that Mark Henry is looking to drop even more weight. He mentions that he has 20, most likely pounds, to go.
The Weight Loss Journey
Mark Henry's weight loss journey has been nothing short of inspirational. He has been dropping weight like crazy over the last few months, and decided to give a bit of an update to his fans.
Speaking in an interview earlier this year, Mark Henry revealed his insane weight loss while discussing his desires to make a return to the ring. “I’m telling you this right now. I’m gonna go out there in real good shape. I’m already 80 lbs lighter than I was when I had my last match. I’m going to be in really good shape.
Staying Active in Retirement
Even in retirement, Henry remains dedicated to fitness. Oh yeah, I never go above 130 kilos [286 pounds] in anything [now]. I squat, deadlift, bench, anything with a lighter weight. I’ll try to do as many reps as I can in the shortest timeframe. My workouts usually take 45 minutes at the most, and I’m dripping with sweat. Then I stretch, and I do cardio for 30-45 minutes. I have a recumbent bike and a regular upright bike.
Balancing Diet and Travel
Taking in large amounts of calories required for strength training at competition level can be a real challenge. You had to balance that around traveling when you were starting out with WWE. You know, when I was competing, it was just like a [means to an] end, just like Brian Shaw, Bill Kazmaier and all the greats. You had to eat at a level that was just not comfortable. It became work to eat.
Most definitely. Travel is the hardest part of pro wrestling for the big guys. I came over here to Australia on the plane for 16 and a half hours. It’s very difficult when you are a man of my stature, but you have to tough it out, that’s the thing about our [pro wrestling] business.
Legacy and Continued Involvement with WWE
Henry added a WWE Hall of Fame induction to his list of accomplishments. In WWE, Henry held the world heavyweight championship. Now working closely with WWE as an ambassador and coach, Henry still travels far and wide.
I work with our talent development. I want to be a part of having my fingerprints on the future of pro wrestling. I’m able to talk to all the younger wrestlers now and give them the life lessons and the travel lessons that I’ve learned. I’ve not had one person reject what I am trying to teach. That speaks volumes for who we pick as talents.
Inspiring a New Generation
Mark Henry's journey extends beyond his personal transformation. He actively mentors younger wrestlers, sharing his experiences and knowledge to guide them. He has worked really hard to show that wrestlers are among some of the greatest athletes in the world. Kurt Angle was an Olympic Champion. I was the best lifter that was ever born. People like Shelton Benjamin and Brock Lesnar don’t come along very often. Brock Lesnar has been a world champion in pro wrestling and MMA. Randy Orton is an unbelievable athlete. Kofi Kingston is a really, really athletic guy with incredible balance.