Henry hits apex after 10 years
May 21, 2006
BY BLACKJACK BROWN
Following his success in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and 1995 Pan Am games as a weightlifter, Mark Henry signed an incredible 10-year, $10 million contract with WWE in 1996. As that contract is about to expire, Henry has raised his game to the point of being one of the most dominant forces in wrestling. In the late '90s and early 2000s, Henry was mired in some bad story lines (Mae Young, Chyna, Sammy) and had more than his share of injuries. But after winning the Arnold Classic strongman competition in 2002, he has turned things around. He suffered another setback in March 2004 when he tore a quad muscle while training in OVW but has returned as an absolute monster. He now finds himself right in the middle of the WWE title picture, with only JBL and maybe Kurt Angle standing in his way of another match with Rey Mysterio, possibly at SummerSlam.
AROUND THE RING: Samoa Joe has been suffering from knee injuries of late but will not require surgery. ... Matches so far confirmed for the ECW "One Night Stand'' show include John Cena vs. Rob Van Dam for the WWE title and Mick Foley teaming with Edge to face Tommy Dreamer and Terry Funk. ... WWE will announce this week that it has signed a deal with the Sci-Fi channel to air the new ECW show in July. ... Tazz will be leaving the "SmackDown'' crew to join ECW on Sci-Fi.
May 21, 2006
BY BLACKJACK BROWN
Following his success in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and 1995 Pan Am games as a weightlifter, Mark Henry signed an incredible 10-year, $10 million contract with WWE in 1996. As that contract is about to expire, Henry has raised his game to the point of being one of the most dominant forces in wrestling. In the late '90s and early 2000s, Henry was mired in some bad story lines (Mae Young, Chyna, Sammy) and had more than his share of injuries. But after winning the Arnold Classic strongman competition in 2002, he has turned things around. He suffered another setback in March 2004 when he tore a quad muscle while training in OVW but has returned as an absolute monster. He now finds himself right in the middle of the WWE title picture, with only JBL and maybe Kurt Angle standing in his way of another match with Rey Mysterio, possibly at SummerSlam.
AROUND THE RING: Samoa Joe has been suffering from knee injuries of late but will not require surgery. ... Matches so far confirmed for the ECW "One Night Stand'' show include John Cena vs. Rob Van Dam for the WWE title and Mick Foley teaming with Edge to face Tommy Dreamer and Terry Funk. ... WWE will announce this week that it has signed a deal with the Sci-Fi channel to air the new ECW show in July. ... Tazz will be leaving the "SmackDown'' crew to join ECW on Sci-Fi.
