"15 Years I had to watch people smaller than me...

[Cronant]

...win the World Title.

I felt for Mark there. That whole speech was truth. Everyone talks about the smaller guys being held back, but tonight, I felt for the big guys. The heel delivering the "I've been held back speech" worked far better than the tweener doing it on RAW, funny enough.

Lets go Mark.

[Krimzon]

They actually garnered support for Henry with that promo. Now, I want him to win more than ever.

[YeahYeahYeahYeahYeah]

That promo had the opposite effect on me. It made me care even less for that match than I already did.

[ICBM]

Having missed most of WWE programs since 07, I just can't get my head around Henry as an attraction

[Spankymac is sick of the swiss]

Sept 16, 2011 21:11:57 GMT -5 ICBM said:

Having missed most of WWE programs since 07, I just can't get my head around Henry as an attraction

Same here, and I've been watching fairly consistently. Mark Henry as a main eventer in 2011 is just a sign that they're running short of people worth pushing, or are too lazy to push someone new.

[hossfan]

I thought it was a great promo and I'm rooting for Mark Henry to win the title, but from a storyline standpoint its hard to have much sympathy for a guy who's been ending careers and cheap-shotting his opponents at every chance he gets.

[BigWill]

It was a decent enough promo, but it still doesn't change the fact that his matches put me to sleep.

[Krimzon]

Sept 16, 2011 21:24:24 GMT -5 BigWill said:

It was a decent enough promo, but it still doesn't change the fact that his matches put me to sleep.

True, but we're talking about Mark Henry and not Randy Orton.

[Bone Daddy]

I want him to win so bad

[jadison]

Sept 16, 2011 21:14:46 GMT -5 Spankymac is sick of the swiss said:

Sept 16, 2011 21:11:57 GMT -5 ICBM said:

Having missed most of WWE programs since 07, I just can't get my head around Henry as an attraction

Same here, and I've been watching fairly consistently. Mark Henry as a main eventer in 2011 is just a sign that they're running short of people worth pushing, or are too lazy to push someone new.

I disagree. I think a recent trend in wrestling is veterans that have a complete resurgence late in their careers. JBL, Bully Ray, and R-Truth are prime examples. Mark's doing the best work of his career. Its not always about pushing someone new, its about pushing what works. Henry is working right now.

[Wolf Hurricane]

Sept 16, 2011 21:59:00 GMT -5 @jadison said:

Sept 16, 2011 21:14:46 GMT -5 Spankymac is sick of the swiss said:

Same here, and I've been watching fairly consistently. Mark Henry as a main eventer in 2011 is just a sign that they're running short of people worth pushing, or are too lazy to push someone new.

I disagree. I think a recent trend in wrestling is veterans that have a complete resurgence late in their careers. JBL, Bully Ray, and R-Truth are prime examples. Mark's doing the best work of his career. Its not always about pushing someone new, its about pushing what works. Henry is working right now.

Not to mention, Mark Henry is new; he's never been a face in the main event scene, and wasn't all that serious of a threat until about 2006. Just like Christian: he may not be the freshest face in the company, but he's definitely a fresh face in the main event scene.

[Paco]

Indeed. I don't care how old you are.
If you've still got it...and, in some cases, have it better than ever...you should be used accordingly.

[ededdneddy]

Mark Henry deserved more than the European Championship and the ECW Championship....I mean he became European Champion only because Jeff Jarrett gave it to him and only holding it for a month and then waiting nearly 9 years for another championship reign with the ECW Championship.

I mean in that time span they could have given him runs with different titles or even give him a King of The Ring win or something. Talk about someone who waited his life to get a shot at the top......I feel really sorry for guys like him that may never get this chance. Please don't drop the ball with this Hall of Pain

[Spankymac is sick of the swiss]

Sept 16, 2011 22:15:45 GMT -5 ededdneddy said:

Mark Henry deserved more than the European Championship and the ECW Championship....I mean he became European Champion only because Jeff Jarrett gave it to him and only holding it for a month and then waiting nearly 9 years for another championship reign with the ECW Championship.

I mean in that time span they could have given him runs with different titles or even give him a King of The Ring win or something. Talk about someone who waited his life to get a shot at the top......I feel really sorry for guys like him that may never get this chance. Please don't drop the ball with this Hall of Pain

They didn't give him those things because his performance didn't merit them. Why is this so hard to get? There were other, better options, so they wisely went with them instead of the guy who was dragging ass and huffing and puffing after walking to the ring.

[Sektor]

Sept 16, 2011 22:18:14 GMT -5 Spankymac is sick of the swiss said:

Sept 16, 2011 22:15:45 GMT -5 ededdneddy said:

Mark Henry deserved more than the European Championship and the ECW Championship....I mean he became European Champion only because Jeff Jarrett gave it to him and only holding it for a month and then waiting nearly 9 years for another championship reign with the ECW Championship.

I mean in that time span they could have given him runs with different titles or even give him a King of The Ring win or something. Talk about someone who waited his life to get a shot at the top......I feel really sorry for guys like him that may never get this chance. Please don't drop the ball with this Hall of Pain

They didn't give him those things because his performance didn't merit them. Why is this so hard to get? There were other, better options, so they wisely went with them instead of the guy who was dragging ass and huffing and puffing after walking to the ring.

Really? I defy you to read through EVERY championship holder in that span of time and tell me that every single one of them was more entertaining and deserved a championship more than Mark Henry. Can you really say that his workrate was so weak that it wouldn't even have been beneficial to give him a run with the IC or US title?


OT: The promo was good, and it made me root for him. Hopefully Orton doesn't beat him clean Sunday, and if he does then it better be because of a lucky break and not an RKO "out of nowhere".

[Spankymac is sick of the swiss]

Sept 16, 2011 22:27:37 GMT -5 Sektor said:

Sept 16, 2011 22:18:14 GMT -5 Spankymac is sick of the swiss said:

They didn't give him those things because his performance didn't merit them. Why is this so hard to get? There were other, better options, so they wisely went with them instead of the guy who was dragging ass and huffing and puffing after walking to the ring.

Really? I defy you to read through EVERY championship holder in that span of time and tell me that every single one of them was more entertaining and deserved a championship more than Mark Henry. Can you really say that his workrate was so weak that it wouldn't even have been beneficial to give him a run with the IC or US title?


OT: The promo was good, and it made me root for him. Hopefully Orton doesn't beat him clean Sunday, and if he does then it better be because of a lucky break and not an RKO "out of nowhere".

If a promo made you root for a heel, then he's doing a s***ty job as a heel. Just sayin'. I didn't see the promo in question, but for a "monster" heel, this sounds an awful lot like some babyface sob story.

[Vice honcho room temperature]

Sept 16, 2011 22:28:53 GMT -5 Spankymac is sick of the swiss said:

Sept 16, 2011 22:27:37 GMT -5 Sektor said:

Really? I defy you to read through EVERY championship holder in that span of time and tell me that every single one of them was more entertaining and deserved a championship more than Mark Henry. Can you really say that his workrate was so weak that it wouldn't even have been beneficial to give him a run with the IC or US title?


OT: The promo was good, and it made me root for him. Hopefully Orton doesn't beat him clean Sunday, and if he does then it better be because of a lucky break and not an RKO "out of nowhere".

If a promo made you root for a heel, then he's doing a s***ty job as a heel. Just sayin'. I didn't see the promo in question, but for a "monster" heel, this sounds an awful lot like some babyface sob story.

Yeah but we are the IWC... we tend to sympathize with the heels.

[jadison]

Sept 16, 2011 22:18:14 GMT -5 Spankymac is sick of the swiss said:

Sept 16, 2011 22:15:45 GMT -5 ededdneddy said:

Mark Henry deserved more than the European Championship and the ECW Championship....I mean he became European Champion only because Jeff Jarrett gave it to him and only holding it for a month and then waiting nearly 9 years for another championship reign with the ECW Championship.

I mean in that time span they could have given him runs with different titles or even give him a King of The Ring win or something. Talk about someone who waited his life to get a shot at the top......I feel really sorry for guys like him that may never get this chance. Please don't drop the ball with this Hall of Pain

They didn't give him those things because his performance didn't merit them. Why is this so hard to get? There were other, better options, so they wisely went with them instead of the guy who was dragging ass and huffing and puffing after walking to the ring.

Yeah I agree here, its not like Mark Henry should've been a world champ 10 years ago.

Right now though, I think he's ready for a good reign. He's better than he's ever been. I've heard he took some acting classes while recovering from an injury, and those seem to have helped him dramatically in terms of projecting his badassness.

Sept 16, 2011 23:31:34 GMT -5 Vice honcho room temperature said:

Sept 16, 2011 22:28:53 GMT -5 Spankymac is sick of the swiss said:

If a promo made you root for a heel, then he's doing a s***ty job as a heel. Just sayin'. I didn't see the promo in question, but for a "monster" heel, this sounds an awful lot like some babyface sob story.

Yeah but we are the IWC... we tend to sympathize with the heels.

I think what made Henry come off as a babyface had a lot to do with Orton coming across like a complete heel when he called Henry "The World's Srongest Failure". Orton's such a dick and so dominant that its hard to actually get heat on him.

[Vice honcho room temperature]

Sept 16, 2011 23:50:29 GMT -5 @jadison said:

Sept 16, 2011 22:18:14 GMT -5 Spankymac is sick of the swiss said:

They didn't give him those things because his performance didn't merit them. Why is this so hard to get? There were other, better options, so they wisely went with them instead of the guy who was dragging ass and huffing and puffing after walking to the ring.

Yeah I agree here, its not like Mark Henry should've been a world champ 10 years ago.

Right now though, I think he's ready for a good reign. He's better than he's ever been. I've heard he took some acting classes while recovering from an injury, and those seem to have helped him dramatically in terms of projecting his badassness.



Yeah but we are the IWC... we tend to sympathize with the heels.

I think what made Henry come off as a babyface had a lot to do with Orton coming across like a complete heel when he called Henry "The World's Srongest Failure". Orton's such a dick and so dominant that its hard to actually get heat on him.[/quote]

Watching it yeah it came off not as a your not good enough but really really mean like the Legacy dissing of Hacksaw Jim Duggan

[The OP]

I agree with that, while I enjoyed the segment and I think it was Henry's first truly great promo in his entire career, it was oddly booked in that sense. They had Orton disrespecting the 15-year veteran and calling him a "failure" it's like he was the "The Legend Killer" again for a minute. It made me, a lot of people here, and probably some of the casual viewership as well wanting Henry to get his hands on Orton and kinda disrupted the face/heel dynamic they had going. Admittedly though, I had no interest in this feud at all prior to Henry's promo. Maybe it's part of a broader effort to tweenerize everyone on Smackdown as is happening on RAW. On that note, I just hope the "who is the real Sin Cara" story doesn't turn into "which Sin Cara is right"!