Mark Henry Heat

[John McHenry]

There is huge heat on Mark Henry right now from WWE’s creative side. They had a storyline planned for him but after his match with Sheamus at Extreme Rules, or at some point in the last week, Henry said he was banged up and needed to take time off due to injuries.

As a general rule, while WWE says they want people to rest when hurt, they usually push them to stick around unless it’s something major like concussions or neck or knee issues. There’s a feeling that they did a lot to build Henry up, get him hot again and then he’s leaving to take time off. He has heat for taking a significant amount of time off without undergoing surgery. As of Wednesday, WWE’s official word is that Henry needing surgery hasn’t been determined yet.

Henry’s taking time off is the reason for JBL’s “took his ball and went home†references on RAW.

I'm ok with this I've never been a Henry fan before or after the "incident". Should help Orton pushin for his heel turn though.

 

[PHX]

This isn't 06 Henry, ECW Henry or when he was just starting the Hall of pain Henry so not seeing how he was so hot to the point where they couldn't afford for him to not stick around. Doubt he was going to do anything of much importance after the Sheamus feud anyways.

 

[Dale]

I guess their pissed off mostly because they had him go over Ryback at Mania only to disappear a couple of weeks later/

 

[XxX Smiles XxX]

I've never really been a fan of Henry, but I like his Hall of Pain stuff, that's about it though.

 

[Gimmick]

I don't know, I can see why WWE are upset but if he's hurt he's hurt. He's someone who could probably do without aggravating an injury, and with just a few more years (if even) left in him and I'm sure he doesn't want to push himself too much.

The whole situation is just unfortunate if anything.

 

[Rated R Superstar]

I don't see the problem, dude needs to rest up, he's not that young. I'd say it all depends on how much time he takes off.

 

[John McHenry]

I think the issue is he just got back had like three matches and decides it's time to leave again even thought there is no known injury.

 

[Chris]

I can definitely see why WWE would be annoyed here, especially if they had something planned (though they probably didn't), but this isn't a loss for them really. I've been a fan of Henry ever since he turned heel and won the belt, but I won't really miss him all that much.

 

[Embrace Thou Maryse]

I doubt WWE had major plans, they obviously had no idea what they doing, he beats the guy now challenging Cena at Mania but then becomes Sheamus's 2,000,000th brogue kick victim this year. Unless thats the new WWE/UFC logic; lose a match and get a title shot...

Its a shame though, he's easily one of the most and in fact only entertaining people in WWE.

 

[Troy]

Maybe he aggravated his injury during one of his few matches since he returned. Not that big a deal in the end, WWE just won't push him as much when he comes back. Shame that he will be out for a bit as he is one of the best heels in the company. Gives another guy on the roster an opportunity to take his spot.

 

[Rated R Superstar]

At his age, shouldn't he be focusing on putting younger talent over anyway? Why push a guy who's plagued with injury? That's WWE's fault for trying to push a guy who just came back from injury.

 

[Troy]

At his age, shouldn't he be focusing on putting younger talent over anyway? Why push a guy who's plagued with injury? That's WWE's fault for trying to push a guy who just came back from injury.

I could make that exact same argument for Undertaker, he is seven years older than Henry and is injury plagued as well. But I wouldn't because it would be a silly arguement to make since in wrestling age doesn't really matter that much. If Henry can work a full time schedule and is getting enough heel heat from crowds then there is no reason why WWE shouldn't push him. If he is the best guy for the World title then his age and previous injuries shouldn't work against him.

 

[Twist of Fate]

At his age, shouldn't he be focusing on putting younger talent over anyway? Why push a guy who's plagued with injury? That's WWE's fault for trying to push a guy who just came back from injury.

Maybe. But personally I think it's beneficial for 2 reasons.

First off, while it's certainly better for a newer guy to go over someone like Mark Henry (someone with a longer career and established as being a monster) than it is over someone like Kofi or Ryder, it's still a waste if they have zero momentum themselves or are on a long losing streak. A good example is Kane in recent years (IMO). He spent what felt like years constantly putting guys over, but I found it to be quite awkward to constantly be reminded that he was a "monster" who had "never been dominated or bested in the way we're seeing here" each week. There comes a point where beating someone in that position really just becomes almost meaningless (other than it simply being a chance to show their skills off against someone "familiar" - that's it). It'd mean so much more and be far more worthwhile to have him as a legit threat and THEN have the right guy go over at the right time.

The other thing is that we have to consider the overall show too here. It's one thing looking to the future in trying to establish a new star (and that's what a lot of us consider when we discuss these topics), but it's another to actually have an actually entertaining feud that we can actually get into. When you know or suspect that the same "washed up" older guy (so to speak) is going to pretty much just lose again and it's likely going to be an average match, it's hardly a match worth watching, and it hardly does much for the younger talent in question in the eyes of the fans if they're going over someone in a match that no-one actually wants to even see.

While i'm not a huge fan of Henry (and injuries aside including this present situation), I think pushing him is a good move. Trouble is if creative are that bothered, then it sounds like they placed many of their eggs into one basket and that's an issue in itself IMO.

 

[Defiant]

Yes, I'm sure creative had such big things planned for Mark Henry.

 

[Cena's Jeans Shorts]

I can see why the WWE would get impatient with the guy. I don't know if he can really help much of it though, he's always been injury prone. That's been the story of his career for well over ten years. I think some of the heel runs he's had shows why they invested the time and gave him so many chances.

Regarding whether to push him, especially at his age, I think the big thing here is you want to build up what you have. If you know you can get a good, monster heel run out of Mark Henry, that brings up the quality of the overall roster and entertainment value. Build him up so eventually maybe they make younger baby faces start looking good. Maybe not put over with a pinfall on the guy, but if you get beat by the monster but put up a fight like a beast, fans will get behind that storytelling. Looking at him and his character as a commodity, whatever value they get out of building him into a monster while he's still here hopefully contributes in some way to the quality of the shows and in small ways some development of those working with him or around him.