Mark Henry discloses reason behind declining Vince McMahon’s idea to defeat John Cena for WWE title after iconic fake retirement promo

Mark Henry recently decided to leave AEW after his contract expired on May 28.

Mark Henry discloses reason behind declining Vince McMahon’s idea to defeat John Cena for WWE title after iconic fake retirement promo

Mark Henry and John Cena (via WWE)

On the latest episode of SmackDown, AJ Styles faked his retirement speech and fooled Cody Rhodes by attacking him. Many fans instantly remembered a similar iconic segment involving Mark Henry and John Cena. During his rivalry with the champion, The Sexual Chocolate refused to win the world title and revealed the reason in an interview. 

While speaking on the Busted Open Radio podcast, Mark Henry revealed that his contract was expiring. At that time, he told Vince McMahon that he wasn’t going to re-sign with the company. Somehow, the former chairman of WWE convinced him, which culminated in his delivering the iconic promo.

The Hall of Famer told fans not to be mad at WWE or John Cena because it was his decision not to win the WWE title. Henry admitted that when a wrestler becomes a top guy in the company, he has to perform at every show in some capacity, and his body couldn’t handle that much pressure. He recently left AEW due to his contract expiring on May 28.

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Speaking about AJ Styles’ segment on SmackDown, he might have cleverly earned another title opportunity. Since losing to Cody Rhodes at Backlash and crashing out in the first round of the King of the Ring tournament, he had no direction moving forward. Following the vicious attack, it will be interesting to see what must be going through the champ’s mind.

Mark Henry was seen at another promotion just days after his AEW exit

Days after his departure from the Jacksonville-based company, Mark Henry was seen at another promotion, and it wasn’t WWE. The World’s Strongest Man paid a visit to Major League Wrestling with wrestling veteran Teddy Long. They both appeared at the Battle Riot event, observing the unique match between AJ Francis and Alex Kane.

Long and Henry had a special role to play in a variation of the Last Man Standing match. A wrestler had to sit on the Bomaye throne for ten seconds to be pronounced the winner. Both veterans came as the Bomaye Elders to congratulate the winner of the match, who turned out to be Alex Kane. Long and the World’s Strongest Man praised Kane for his performance.

Henry left AEW after his contract expired on May 28 and said he ended his journey on a positive note. Although the former world champion admitted that he wasn’t leaving pro wrestling forever, his future still remains uncertain. Only time will tell what the future holds for the World’s Strongest Man.

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