Mark Henry Talks Racism In Wrestling, Why He Killed The ‘Silverback’ Storyline
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Mark Henry is best known as the World’s Strongest Man and the purveyor of the Hall of Pain in WWE. However, as with any superstar, there were other failed nicknames thrown around during his career, and one in particular that he put the kibosh on himself. In a clip from a longer interview conducted with Vlad TV, Mark Henry discussed the time that the WWE writers attempted to call him a “Silverback” and how he fought back against what he perceived as a form of racism.
The video starts off recalling Thuggin’ & Buggin’ Enterprises, a stable from 2003 that dealt with racism in-storyline. Henry agreed that this was fine and fit the time, and transitioned into the story about the Silverback nickname. Because this wasn’t part of a storyline but just a nickname given to him by writers, he found that it was unacceptable. When he took this discomfort to Vince McMahon, the boss was happy to kill the name because of Henry’s discomfort. After the discussion, they shifted over to “The World’s Strongest Man” branding, and the rest is history.
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