Mark Henry comments on his son wrestling and how that might factor into him having more matches.
Mark Henry retired from squared circle competition without much in the way of fanfare. However, his legacy may continue on in the world of professional wrestling through his son Jacob Henry.
Jacob Henry has expressed interest in professional wrestling and it was previously stated that he was slated to go to Japan to train with Fred Rosser.
Speaking with Sean Ross Sapp in a recent interview, Mark Henry commented on why he felt it was important for his son to be well-traveled before coming back to America to try and be a major star on television.
"Well, I told them before he comes to America and becomes a mainstream name, he better travel the world first. So he understands that he's gonna have to go to Japan, that he's gonna have to go to Australia, that he's gonna have to go to Africa and Mexico and Canada and do tours for about a calendar year and work out all the bugs, learn to work out with different people's styles, learn to exist in locker rooms. That's the stuff that I didn't get. I'm not gonna do to him what happened to me. That's what fathers are supposed to do."
He also said that, like most second-generation stars, his son Jacob has an elite level of understanding of professional wrestling.
"Jacob is a stereotypical second-generation wrestler," Henry boasted. "His understanding of pro wrestling is elite. Hell, I'll set it up for you. I don't have to be present. Sure. He can come on this show with you, and you'll come away from it going, ‘Holy shit, this dude is for real.’ Because his understanding of wrestling and the psychology of it—and it hurt me to break it to him. It was like at eleven years old I had to tell him that Santa Claus wasn’t real, for wrestling and that what we do is based on psychology. Sometimes it’s the Bible. Sometimes it's simple, good versus evil, fast versus slow, big versus small.
"Like, learn to tell a story in every moment and he was like, ‘But y’all fought.’ I'm like, ‘Baby, we went at each other, but we know what we were doing," he continued. "Like we're professionals and one of these days, you're gonna be a professional and when you get there, you're gonna be one of the best of them.’ But it comes with a price to pay. It's like the montage from the TV show Fame, and they tell you that it is blood, sweat and tears and you got to sacrifice and that's pro wrestling. Like you give a piece of yourself every time you go out there and everybody's got a bump card and at some point it fills up and it's over and you want to be able to make that stretch out over 30 years and not have it fizzle out in three or four years. So he's been trained to be a guy with longevity."
As for how this could factor into Henry having more matches inside the squared circle, the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion alluded to their potentially "standing on the apron" for one of his son's matches but he says he won't be bumping for another three years.
"I got about five bumps left in me and they won't happen for about three years. Once Jacob gets out of college and he goes into wrestling, I'm gonna have to stand on the apron and somebody's got to come bump me and he's gonna beat the shit out of them."
Henry recently stated that he wanted to have more of a proper send-off to his career but his body had other ideas. Learn more here.
Check out the full interview with Mark Henry embedded above.
