Mark Henry: Most successful Worlds Strongest Man wrestler?

[fg]

I know all about The fact that for the most part of Henry's 20-year career, he didn't do much. He didn't even have that nickname for all of his twenty year career. But compared to Dino Bravo, Ken Patera, Tee Arcidi, and Bill Kazmier, I would have to say that he is the most successful unless I am mistaken. I see him going into the HoF. The other three I can't maybe except for Ken Patera.

[Mozenrath]

Like, by a wide margin, yes, maybe followed by Patera, who like you said might get in.

[keezy]

Big E is definitely up there, even though it's not really part of his gimmick anymore, he could easily surpass Henry if he had a world title run.

[Deleted]

Yup. Outside of Bill Kazmier and maybe Ken Patera he also had the best strongman/powerlifting/olympic weight lifting career of the bunch.

[Deleted]

Bruno Sammartino.

[Deleted]

Simon Gotch.

[Joe Neglia]

I'd be inclined to put Henry and Patera fairly neck-and-neck. People tend to remember Patera's post-prison run, but for the 11 years prior to the McDonalds incident, he was an absolute A-lister who did just about everything except win the WWWF or NWA titles.

[Deleted]

Did any of them have a run as good as Mark Henry's Hall of Pain? Did any of them have a promo anywhere near as good as Mark Henry's fake retirement promo?

I rest my case.

[Mozenrath]

Dec 25, 2016 22:31:55 GMT -5 Joe Neglia said:

I'd be inclined to put Henry and Patera fairly neck-and-neck. People tend to remember Patera's post-prison run, but for the 11 years prior to the McDonalds incident, he was an absolute A-lister who did just about everything except win the WWWF or NWA titles.

I forget, wasn't he one of the first IC champions?

[GuyOfOwnage]

Dec 26, 2016 2:04:53 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

Dec 25, 2016 22:31:55 GMT -5 Joe Neglia said:

I'd be inclined to put Henry and Patera fairly neck-and-neck. People tend to remember Patera's post-prison run, but for the 11 years prior to the McDonalds incident, he was an absolute A-lister who did just about everything except win the WWWF or NWA titles.

I forget, wasn't he one of the first IC champions?

Yup, he ended Patterson's reign.

I was a vocal critic of Henry for years and I felt like he was just taking up space that could be occupied by a much better and cheaper talent, but man, that ECW title run, and later WHC reign, made me a fan for life. A legit, unstoppable monster heel for the brief time he was on top.

[Joe Neglia]

Dec 26, 2016 2:04:53 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

Dec 25, 2016 22:31:55 GMT -5 Joe Neglia said:

I'd be inclined to put Henry and Patera fairly neck-and-neck. People tend to remember Patera's post-prison run, but for the 11 years prior to the McDonalds incident, he was an absolute A-lister who did just about everything except win the WWWF or NWA titles.

I forget, wasn't he one of the first IC champions?

He was the second-ever IC champ, dethroning Patterson. And and and...he was NWA Missouri Heavyweight champ at the same time (4 days apart) and held both titles for several months. And the NWA Missouri title was no small potatoes; it was seen by many as the stepping stone to the NWA title, with both Funks, Gene Kiniski, Race, Jack Brisco and Backlund being half the dozen or so champs before him. The whole situation is remarkable, unique even, that in that time period, Patera was just about the only "muscle head" that was being potentially eyed for an NWA champ run. That's how successful he was.

Patera had one hell of an 11-year run before things imploded with the arrest, and while his career after it was piss poor, it was still a hell of an 11-year run. Henry, on the other hand, has seen his success come in small fits and bursts over a 20-year span, with no really long stints of major success thanks to injuries and some of the worst #&@%ing angles ever concocted. He's certainly more successful in specific ways - I guarantee Henry's bank account at its peak looks better than Patera's at his, and Henry has had much greater overall exposure to a worldwide fanbase instead of individual territorial ones. So it's still kind of a toss-up.

[Bear Skin Rug]

I got a real kick out of the title of this thread and how 'Worlds Strongest Man wrestler' is a legitimate category of people.