Mark Henry Criticizes AEW for Not Disciplining ‘Bad Apples’

Mark Henry made his debut at AEW’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view in 2021, which got fans excited about his potential contributions to the company. However, over time, fans became disappointed with his role in AEW. Henry eventually left the company and has now shared his frustrations during his time in AEW.

The World’s Strongest Man previously confirmed he would not be re-signing with Tony Khan’s company and since then, he made a shocking appearance at MLW’s Battle Riot VI event and then on the August 12th edition of Monday Night RAW.

During a recent interview with Huge Pop, Mark Henry talked about some of his frustrations from his time working in AEW. Henry explained that while he initially joined AEW to gain executive experience and help the company grow, he soon realized his role was more about his name recognition and visibility, rather than making creative contributions. He emphasized that he’s not bitter, but simply stating the facts.

”Tightening the screws requires you to be able to break your tool kit out. So, there was a point where I realized that I wasn’t there to tighten the screws. I was there for name recognition and visibility, and that’s a horrible place to feel if you’re a creative. I don’t wanna come across — I’m not whining and I’m not complaining. I’m stating the facts … But right now, everybody gonna be like, ‘Nah, Mark Henry just mad and bitter.’ I’m not mad and bitter.”

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Henry also spoke about the issues he noticed within the company, mentioning that he wanted to help the talent improve, but felt that discipline wasn’t being enforced when necessary. He acknowledged that while AEW has started disciplining people now, he didn’t recall any such actions being taken when he was there.

“I went there because I wanted to get experience being an executive and I wanted to help that company flourish and help those people that were over there be better than they were. I was working for those high fives from guys and girls coming back. And then there’s some bad apples, and the bad apples have to be disciplined. Oh, they’re disciplining people now. But nobody wasn’t getting suspended or disciplined when I was there. I don’t remember [that].”

Mark Henry also confirmed that AEW had no plans for him to wrestle during his time with the company. Despite this, Henry has mixed feelings about his AEW experience. While he was brought in for name recognition, his main goal was to help the company grow and support its talent. Although things didn’t go as he expected, his intentions were always focused on helping AEW succeed.

Do you believe Mark Henry deserved better in AEW? Should AEW have done more with him? Let us know in the comments section below!