By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Forbes interview with Mark Henry
Interview conducted by Alfred Konuwa
Available at Forbes.com
Mark Henry on WWE going to Saudi Arabia in the middle of Iran-Israel Crisis: “Saudi Arabia is not the problem or a contributor to the negativity of the world. That war has been fought for 3,000 years. You’re not going to change it. I’m not going to change it. Saudi Arabia is not going to change it. I’m going to tell you something about Saudi Arabia. They have one of the largest air forces in the world. You don’t want to fight them. You don’t want to do nothing over there that ain’t proper, because they will get you and they don’t have a system to where you got to go through congress, and you go through the board, and you got to have all these people talk about it.
“No. You get caught over there, it’s happening in the public square for everybody to see. Don’t mess around. And I believe in that. People can get me mad at me all they want to. I’m not worried about anybody. If the WWE goes over there, the full power of the king and his son are going to protect them and keep them safe. Nothing going to happen. Every time I went to Saudi Arabia, I felt more at home and welcome than I do a lot of places in America. People say, ‘Welcome home, brother!’ Like there’s so many people over there that are brown people that look like you and I.
On why he feels sorry for big men, Wardlow being buried by the Young Bucks: “I feel sorry for the big man in pro wrestling right now. And people will be like, ‘Why do you feel sorry for him?’ I feel sorry for him because it’s kind of like the reverse role. In America, my white counterparts think that if black people come to power, that we’re going to do the evil atrocities to them that was done to us. And that’s not the way black people are. Like, if it ever switched, it would be more benevolent leading. That’s why a lot of the African tribes got taken over because they didn’t want to kill their brother. They might be mad at you and not want to do business with you, but they wouldn’t want to kill you over it.
“But that’s the way it’s happened with the big guy and the little guy in wrestling. The little guy is in power right now, and he has been underneath the, oh, the bigger you are, the better you are. That’s not always been the case. And now that it is, they want to keep it that way. They don’t want the big guy to flourish. There was a time at AEW, when I first went to AEW, man, I just saw all the money in the world in Wardlow. And because the powers that be were smaller guys, they ixnayed that shit all together. They wanted it to be more balanced for the smaller wrestler, because the guys that were the best there were the smaller guys. Not realizing that the more monsters you create, the better the conqueror.
“Every big guy needs to remember David and Goliath. David won. That’s the whole point of the story is for David to win. And I didn’t think [AEW] let [Wardlow] develop and get there…WWE is able to have a happy medium. A happy balance of big-and-small. But even at the top, top end of WWE, they don’t use the big, big guy as the main event guys…right now, the biggest guys are not the best workers. And they don’t compel you to do what Roman Reigns does, or what Randy Orton does, or what Logan Paul is growing into. Bronson Reed can be one of those guys because he’s really smart and he understands the happy medium philosophy. Gunther used to be a big dude. He used to be one of the monsters, and then the world has talked him into, no, you need to be smaller.”
Mark Henry on independent wrestling vs. professional wrestling: “In indie wrestling, you can get a bingo hall, high school gym, convention center—well, maybe not a convention center—an outlet mall…you take the smaller venues. You pack it full of chairs, and you put a ring in there, and bring in your ramp; some piping drape, and you’ve got a wrestling show. That’s not what I want to do. That’s not me.
“What I wanted to do [with ACW] is take the WWE model and make it smaller. I want convention centers. I want small arenas. I want a ramp, I want trons, I want smoke, I want lights. I want the sound to not be echoey and hollow, I want real sound equipment, and I want the talent to be great. I want storytelling. I don’t want the double-indie flip through the top of the table, getting hit with a light bulb on plates of glass…”
On Vince McMahon’s future plans: “I have no idea. I have zero idea, but I’m going to tell you something. If I had $7 billion, I would do whatever I wanted to do and nothing you or nobody else was going to stop me from doing it. So he can do whatever he wants. He didn’t go to prison. The world is very forgiving.”
“Saudi Arabia is not the problem or a contributor to the negativity of the world.”
Now Mark…….come on bruh.