WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry entered the wrestling business in the mid 1990s, when he was just 24 years old, right as the company was about to hit a major stride. It was an energetic time in the industry, and making a recent appearance on “The Undertaker” Mark Calaway’s podcast, “Six Feet Under,” Henry looked back at some of the excesses of that period, many of which saw Henry and Calaway drinking together.
“I’m allergic to alcohol,” Henry joked. “I don’t drink because I’ll go to jail. That’s one of the symptoms.”
Henry recalled a time in Japan when a police officer asked the wrestlers to leave wherever they had been partying. The WWE star, drunk and not wanting to depart, said that he pressed the officer up against a wall before Calaway told him to let go. This isn’t a story that Henry directly remembers, but rather something that has been told to him over the years.
“It was true,” Calaway said. “‘Mark, we have to go. We have to go now.’ ‘Okay.’ I don’t know what it was but [I was] the voice of reason.”
Calaway was able to get Henry away from the officer without any further incident, but situations like that would eventually cause Henry to give up alcohol entirely.
Beginning in 1995, Henry spent the next 26 years with WWE, though he wasn’t always featured in that time. He departed WWE in 2021, soon signing with upstart promotion AEW as a coach and onscreen personality. After three years with the company, Henry recently announced that he was leaving AEW, though he does not intend to retire yet.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Six Feet Under with Mark Calaway” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
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