Mark Henry Talks Favorite Attitude Era Moment, Feuding with The Rock, Mae Young, More

– Mark Henry recently spoke with the UK’s Mirror to promote the new Attitude Era book. The full interview can be found at this link. Below are highlights:

When you were approached by Vince McMahon about joining WWE, did he outline the way the business was changing?

Yes, absolutely. But first of all, I didn’t believe that it was actually him who phoned me, so I hung up on him! I thought it was one of my friends who was playing a joke. He did call me back and this time he said ‘what happened?’ and I was like, ‘is this really Vince McMahon?’ We talked for about five or 10 minutes and he appreciated the fact that as I’ve mentioned, I was a fan of the industry, and I was a winner. He thought I would be a natural at it.

When the faction split, you feuded with The Rock and defeated him on pay-per-view at Judgment Day: In Your House in October 1998. Did you foresee The Rock becoming one of the greatest superstars in history?

Most definitely. He is one of the most well-studied, flamboyant characters of all time. And people… there is nobody on earth other than maybe Vince McMahon who has a work ethic like his. He studies and works and studies and works and that is all he ever wanted to do, to succeed. It was an honour to be in the ring with him first and secondly to gain the win. We’ve had a few matches, four I think to be exact, and I may be the only person in history that is undefeated against him over that many matches!

You were involved in some truly bizarre storylines, the most infamous involving the legendary Mae Young. What did you think of these crazy angles?

I enjoyed my time working with Mae Young, she was one of the coolest, most respected people that I ever met in the industry. We both gave each other’s characters life and that is something that is hard for people to understand. There are thousands of wrestlers and there are thousands of really good ones, but to be able to join somebody that kind of fell off the map and both of you rise to the top of the card because of chemistry, and that last for not a week or two, but for a year, and here we are 16 years later still talking about it, it’s impressive. It’s unbelievable.

What was your favourite Attitude Era match or moment?

I think my favourite in-ring moment, it really didn’t have anything to do with me. One of my favourite in-ring moments was seeing Hulk Hogan and The Rock go face to face [at WrestleMania 18]. It gave me something because I felt the connection because The Rock was my brother and as a child I grew up idolising Hulk Hogan. It was the future and the past coming together. It was something where I just stood there in amazement, just like everybody else. It was like five or six minutes where they just stood there and looked at each other and the crowd cheered. That was one of my favourite moments.

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