Mark Henry began his career in the WWE in 1996. Before entering the WWE, he competed in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Henry participated in weightlifting in the super-heavyweight competition. In 1996 he returned and was named team captain. He only finished 14th after suffering a back injury.
Henry signed a ten year contract with the WWE in 1996. His debut match was September 22, 1996 with Jerry "The King" Lawler. They battled at In Your House: Mind Games where he picked up the win. He had aligned with Rocky Maivia, Marc Mero, and Jake the Snake in his first year.
In 1998, Henry joined the Nation of Domination, led by Farooq. His allies were Kama Mustafa, D'Lo Brown, and Rocky Maivia, who was know known as The Rock. When the team over threw Farooq, and The Rock took over and renamed the group "The Nation," Henry remained. with the group.
After the Nation disbanded in the Fall of 1998, Henry and D'Lo Brown went on to become a tag team.
During the Summer of 1999, he and D'Lo Brown came so close to winning the tag team titles on multiple occasions, but came up short. When Brown became the Intercontinental and European Champion, Henry turned on him and costed him both titles in a match with Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett later awared Henry the European title for his help. That was his first taste of Championship Gold. He lost the title back to Brown a month later.
Later in the year, Henry was known being known as "Sexual Chocolate." During this time, he had brief romance with Chyna. He would later admit to being a sex addict. Apart of his sex addiction, Henry later impregnated Mae Young. Young would have a miscarriage after Viscera body splashed her.
In 2000, he was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling. He would not return to the WWE TV until 2002.
When he returned, he often displayed many reasons why he is the "World's Strongest Man." One night on Smackdown, Henry bent an iron pan using his raw strength.
In 2006, he engaged in a feud with the Undertaker. This led to the Undertaker challenging Henry in a casket match at WrestleMania. Many thought that Mark Henry could be the first to defeat the Undertaker at the biggest spectacle in sports entertainment. Henry came up short.
A year later, he would gain vengeance on the Undertaker. After The Undertaker and Batista engaged in an epic World Heavyweight Championship cage match, that ended in no contest, Henry would come down and beat the battered Undertaker into a bloody mess. This allowed Edge to cash in his Money in the Bank contract and win the title. After this match he and the Undertaker would feud which led to the Undertaker putting Henry out of commission briefly.
When he returned Tony Atlas became his manager. Atlas a former tag team champion with Rocky Johnson said that he could help lead Henry to success. At Night of Champions 2008 he faced Big Show and Kane and went on to win the ECW Championship.
Before winning the title, Michael P.S. Hayes, a member of the creative team and former member of the Fabulous Freebirds found himself in a verbal altercation with Mark Henry. During this time, it is said that Henry was offended by some of Hayes' comments. On of which Hayes indicated that he was more ni**er than Henry. Hayes was suspended. Many say that Hayes is a huge supporter of Henry and the fact is that he wanted Henry to be successful.
After Henry lost the title, he was left under the radar. In April 2011, he was drafted to Smackdown. The night of the draft, he attacked his teammate John Cena, who would later be re drafted to Raw. From that night on Henry promised that he would take any and everything that was in his way until he was the World Heavyweight Champion.
Henry's victims include but are not limited to, The Big Show, Kane, and even the sound man. At SummerSlam, he defeated Sheamus by count out when he slammed him through barricade. In the next few weeks, Henry won a battle royal on Smackdown that named him the number one contender for Randy Orton's World Heavyweight Championship.
Leading up to the match, Henry reminded everyone that he has been with the WWE for 15 years, and that there would be nothing that would stop him from winning the title. When the time came, Henry absolutely dominated Orton, and it was the World Strongest Slam that gave Henry his first World Heavyweight Championship.
