Mark Henry on If The Nation Would Work Now, Retirement and His Legacy, The Streak, More

– Mark Henry recently spoke with Digital Spy to promote WWE Money In the Bank and the new Attitude Era book. The full interview is at this link. Below are highlights:

Was there anything in the Attitude Era that you think went too far?

“Seeing Mankind and Undertaker in the Cell, jumping off the top. I thought it was a little much. But it’s the moments in our business that make up the history. They told a complete story that there’s no limit to what we can do. And that’s what I got out of it.”

Does the WWE miss the competition from the WCW to spur it on?

“I don’t think so. I think the business in its current state is better than it’s ever been, and that includes the Attitude Era – from a business standpoint. From a fan standpoint you like to see people mix it up a little more. You like to see or hear some profanity or adult situation or whatever. But right now the business is working. And you can’t stop a boulder from rolling, you’ve just got to let it play out.”

You had a match with The Undertaker at WrestleMania 22 – what did you think about him eventually losing his streak to Brock Lesnar?

“If you’re going to lose to somebody losing to a guy like Brock Lesnar is not something that people will laugh at. Brock is arguably one of the top ten fighters on Earth. He’s young, he’s big, he’s powerful and he’s fearless. He’s a dominate entity in sports entertainment. If you’re going to lose to someone it sounds like a pretty good option.”

How do you think the Nation of Domination would be received in 2015?

“I think it would be taken very strongly. I think it would succeed. But it’s a different time, and the militance and the collective thought process on people wanting to turn things because of color is always gonna be there, but is less prevalent now than it ever was. I think it would work but it would go through some struggle.”

Your retirement promo with John Cena is one of the best ever – where did that come from?

“I’ve been trying to retire for the last eight years and the business won’t allow me to. I’m at the point now to where I appreciate the crowd and I appreciate the locker room and all of the people that I work with and work for. “But I’m getting to the point to where I’m getting too old for this stuff and I need to drift off into the sunset. That’s where that came from. The opportunity to pull the wool over John Cena’s eyes was too good. He was believing and I took the chance to do it.”

When you do finally retire, what would like to be your lasting legacy?

“I have it already. Longevity. Not only longevity, but I’ve been in the business for 19 years in August. How many people have nine year careers, nevertheless another ten added to it? I’ve been through from ’95 to now. I’ve learned more than a normal person would learn because I wanted to. I understand marketing. I understand licensing. I understand the business side of our business. That comes from paying attention and wanting to do better, not just as an in-ring performer but as someone who loves the industry. I’ve left my legacy. I’ve been a success in every facet of the business in every era. I challenge anybody to go through their career and not have a failure as a talent. Granted there’s a hundred wrestling monikers and gimmicks if you will that never made it. That’s something that I never had to cross.”

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