← The Steve Austin Show
The Steve Austin Show
WWE Hall of Famer "World's Strongest Man" Mark Henry PART 1 - SAS CLASSIC
01:00:24
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A
If you're a podcast host, listen up. This one's for you. My name is Ali Jackson. I'm the host of Finding Mr. Height, a dating and relationship podcast that I've been doing for four years now, sharing my positive and practical approach to dating that's built on my own life experience. And I wanted to share another experience that I've had, my secret behind monetizing my show. It's called Red Circle. And I was just telling my colleague about how much I love their platform. With Red Circle, not only am I getting a seamless hosting experience, but I also love the support I receive in ad sales. It's not just typical ad sales either. It's targeted opportunities based on my show and my life. And the platform is super simple. You just set your preferences, and Red Circle matches you with sponsors that align with your show. You can vet every opportunity, and their platform gives you great analytics. More recently, too, my Red Circle team has brought me opportunities outside of my podcast on social media to really augment the podcast partnerships. Bring them full circle. I just can't recommend them enough. If you want to give it a try, go to redcircle.com to get your free trial. That's redcircle.com for a free trial.
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B
From Hollywood, California, by way of the Broken Skull Ranch, this is the Steve Austin Show.
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C
Give me a Hell yeah. Hell yeah.
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B
Now here's Steve Austin.
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C
All right, everybody. Welcome to Steve Austin Show. I am coming to you from the mean streets of Los Angeles, California, today. I'm sitting here at 316 Gimmick street and we are about to open up can of audio Whoop ass as my guest today is WWE hall of Famer Mark Henry. Man, I think I'll tell you a little bit of the story in the podcast, but I was over here at the house at 316 Gimmick street and I get this text message that says, hey, man, do you want to talk to Earl Campbell? I texted back, who is this? Texted back, mark Henry. I call him up on the phone, we start shooting a breeze. One thing leads to another. Mark lives down in Austin, Texas, where Earl lives. And I had been planning a trip to Austin, Texas for quite a few weeks to reconnect with a family member and go check out a couple of cars that I'd found down there. So. So I said, hey, man, I'm coming down to Austin, Texas. I said, is that where you're at? And he said, yeah. I said, would you do my podcast? So we worked out the details. I flew down to Austin, Texas. I did his radio show busted open with him and Dave legreca and had a great time. And then, man, we rolled sound of my podcast and started shooting the breeze and just having a good time. I've known mark for 20 years and I've seen him in buildings, you know, for I don't know how long, but I've never really had a long in depth conversation with a man. And I sit down and, man, I'll tell you what, talking with Mark Henry is a real interesting experience because, man, this guy is so articulate and he's such a great storyteller and he's very engaging. And I tell you what, man, when he starts telling stories, and he told many that I've never heard before, and so it was fascinating. So I'm asking questions and it was a short term prep. When you're dealing with a guy like Mark Henry who's literally, for a shoot, one of the strongest human beings to ever walk planet Earth, he's in the top three, if not the top two, if he's not the top one. That's how strong this guy is. And I never realized that until I really started looking at what he's accomplished. And every bit of it has been 100% drug free. So anyway, you sit there and start talking to Mark Henry. And I wanted to cover everything, but he's done so much in the world of weightlifting, in the world of powerlifting, in the world of sports, entertainment, a career of over 20 years. But the best thing about this thing was, is we get into some of that, we'll get into a lot of that. But just when Mark goes into storytelling mode, man, and you'll notice later on in the podcast, maybe midway through, I'll kind of start just laying out because Mark's kind of like a locomotive. Once he starts talking, man, if he's talking about something, he's really into it. You can just feel the energy and passion coming out. You really had to be there in person to just feel what I was feeling, but it was very powerful. And the dude can talk and tells great stories. So when you have a guest like that and some of the knowledge and some of the four, one, one he's dropping and some of the stories of which I've never heard, which were phenomenal, there's no reason to interrupt that. So I just let Mark talk and man, we had a great time. And there was a couple of emotional moments in there for him as he was looking back over some of the things that he's done and some of the things that he's encountered. And it was just. It was a real neat experience. I could have talked to Mark Henry for probably six hours straight, but his wife called in, he had errands to run. I'd already taken up enough of his day, so we cut it short. But I look forward to getting down to Austin, Texas again and talking with him again about just more stuff and, hell, just about shooting the breeze, because that guy has so much, so many stories, and there's so much to learn from him. It's really unbelievable. And I can understand now why wwe, all these years later, with the hall of Fame career that he's had, values him so much as a global brand ambassador for wwe, because, you know, he is one of those guys that is deeply caring and very passionate about helping others. And I know he's very involved with the Special Olympics and many other things like that and giving back. And, man, I'll tell you something, if you ever get in a war or if you ever get in a bind, Mark Henry is one of those guys who you want on your side, because if that man gives you his word, man, he's going down with you or he's going to be in the fight with you. So it was a great time hanging out with Mark Henry, and you're about to hear that conversation. But before I get to that, when I started talking with Mark, I was like, hey, man, is there a good hotel in town that you would recommend I stay at that would be kind of close to your studio? Because I'm going to go visit a friend of mine from way back, and then we're going to go look at a couple of cars. And Mark recommended to me the South Congress Hotel. So that's where I booked my reservation. And, man, that's quite a scene down there in Austin, Texas. As I was flying down there to Austin, Texas, it was almost like a homecoming, because I was born in Austin, Texas, December 18, 1964. My parents got a divorce, my mom moved down to Victoria, married Ken Williams, and you've heard the story a million times. I hadn't been to Austin, Texas, and I don't know how many years. And the last time I was there, I was working at Frank Irwin center right there at the University of Texas for the wwe. And so I flew back in there and it was like, man, it's coming full circle here. And I wanted to get down and see the Stevie Ray Vaughan statue, but I never did. But as I checked into the South Congress Hotel, I said, man, this is kind of a hipster, cool place. And I was in there doing all my research for Mark, put in a bunch of hours, and I called my wife up and I said, man, I said, I'm having a hard time getting this podcast together. And she says, why? I said, man, it's kind of short notice. I said, mark Henry has had one of the most successful weightlifting careers in the history of lifting and then 20 years of wrestling and goes into the hall of fame. I said, man, it's hard to research a guy like that who's accomplished so much. And she said, man, you're in your head. Just talk to him like you would talk to anybody. Go down and get yourself a drink and just relax. And I said, you know what? I said, that sounds like a good idea because I'd been holed up in my room there for about eight hours. So I go down there, I sit down at the bar, this fort got busy, and bartender there was named William. And I said, hey man, what kind of margarita you make? And he told me about the margarita that he made.
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D
And.
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C
And I said, all right, man, sounds good. So I had one. And I said, hey man, what's your formula? And he kind of told me how he made his margarita. And I said, man, here's how I make mine. Can you kind of float that Grand Marnier on top? I'm not asking you to change your formula, but could you just, you know, float that Grand Marnier on top like I do mine? And he goes, of course. So anyway, to William, the bartender over there at the bar at the South Congress Hotel, man, it was a pleasure drinking with you. You make a badass drink. And there's a lot of bartenders out there that don't want to change their formula. And he didn't totally change up his formula, but he sure was helping me out and we had a damn good time. I was just sitting there at the bar. He was busy. There was a busy ass bar. But I got great margaritas for a couple of days while I stayed at that hotel. And if you're looking for a damn good cheeseburger, there's a cafe hooked on next to the South Congress Hotel called the no say Cafe. And they got a no say Burger in there. It's a double meat cheeseburger. And I got the bacon on there and the half avocado and the french fries and there's kind of like a mayonnaise type thing there. I would recommend that you also ask for mustard. I did not. And add some ketchup for the fries. What an eating experience. That's the best damn cheeseburger I've had in a long ass time. So if you're in Austin, Texas, stop by the South Congress Hotel, ask Ol William for a Steve Austin style margarita. He'll float that Grand Marnier for you. He's a class act. And go to the no say Cafe for lunch, brunch, whatever. Get the no say Burger with the bacon and the avocado on there because it's a flat out badass burger and great french fries. So that's my eating and drinking experience down there in Austin, Texas. And also got a chance to reconnect with an old family member. And it was a blast hooking up with him as I went down to pick him up at his place in Pflugerville and drove down to down there right outside of Bastrop and looked at a 1955 Buick Special, which was in mint condition and looked at a 1966 Ford Mustang coupe. I've always been a fastback kind of guy, but this coupe was just in really, really good shape. Picked up both of those things and I'm having them shipped out to the BSR in Nevada. But I'd like to talk to you more about some of my personal things. But I've got a long podcast here with Mark. We cover some really interesting material, stories I've never heard before. And again, I hope you enjoy this conversation. And you'll notice I lay out towards the end because I'm just listening to Mark tell some badass stories. And without any further ado, let's get to my podcast. Let's get to my interview done there at the Iheart Studios in Austin, Texas, right off Congress, my guest, WWE hall of Famer, International Sports hall of Fame inductee, and one of the greatest weightlifters that's ever walked planet Earth and one of the absolute strongest men to ever be born. My guest, Mark Henry.
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E
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D
This is the Steve Austin show, man.
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C
I'm Roland Sand. I'm sitting here in Austin, Texas, the city where I was born December 18, 1964. Yesterday, flew on an airplane in Los Angeles, California. Touched down, walked across, get my rent a car. It was 92 degrees. I said, man, I'm home and it's hot. I've been in Los Angeles so long, I done turned into a weather sissy. But now I'm sitting four feet away from a guy I've always gotten along with. We've always been friends, don't know each other real well all our times in the dressing room. But you travel with your crew, I travel with mine. And you lasted 20 years. I lasted a couple. And Mark Henry is my guest today and we're in his studio where he does his show. So explain this setup and tell people where we're at. Mark.
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D
Well, we're at the iheart Studios in Austin, but I do my show from here on Sirius XM Busted Open, and David Legrecor and Bully Ray, who you did the show with him before, and Tommy Dreamer and myself five days a week. And right now we got the number one Apple podcast and we gonna hold that title as long as we can. But you know, now that I'm on this one, I think we're gonna make a big jump.
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C
Hey, man, here's the thing. I was, I got a short notice. I told this story on Mark's show, but I'm gonna tell it here. I was at my house, standing in the kitchen and I got this text message and it was from a number in Texas, but I did not recognize it and said, you want to talk to Earl Campbell? And I texted back immediately, who is this? He texted back, mark Henry. So I picked up the phone and called. I said, man, what are you doing? I had your number a long time ago, but you changed it. And all of a sudden when you say the name Earl Campbell to any of the younger listeners out there, you gotta understand if you're from Texas or if you love football, you know who Earl Campbell is. And you respect that name. Dude was an absolute monster. Just a monster of power and speed. He doesn't get credit for being a speed back, but he did have breakaway speed. You get him on the sideline, you wouldn't run.
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D
You weren't going to run him down.
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C
And if you was in front of him, he damn sure was probably going to run over you. And he took pride in the fact that it was going to take at least two games.
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D
No corner ever tackled him. No.
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C
And the thing about it was, he was originally a linebacker. But anyway, nonetheless, so I said, okay, how can I talk to Earl Campbell? And I said, well, dude, I'm coming to Austin anyway. I'm looking at a car and I've got to connect with a family member. I said, would you be on my show? Because I don't want to talk on the radio anymore. And here I can be in person with you. 20 years in the business, a WWE hall of Famer. We've always been friends. And now to have you on the podcast. And here's the thing I told Mark, I said, man, this is short notice. When I started looking back at your career from a strength perspective and then from a wrestling perspective, it ain't no easy study.
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D
No. So figured, three different sports. Yeah, but, you know, we was talking about Earl Campbell. Like, I remember I ran into you in Brooklyn at SummerSlam year before last. Two years ago, while I was talking to you, my phone rang and it was Earl. And I was like, oh, my God, man. Steve, you mind if I take this call? It's Earl Campbell. And he was like, earl Campbell? And I was like, yeah, my son, you know, looks out for him. And you said, no, no, go ahead. And then I talked to him for a minute. You sat there and talked to Michael Cole for 30 seconds or however long it took me to get off the phone. And then you said, man, how you know Earl? And I told you about him, my son. And, you know, I probably don't expect you to remember all that. And I said, man, he was like, man, I'm a big fan. Like, he's pretty much the reason I play football. And I was like, wow, I'm have to let him know. And fast forward now it's two years later, and I'm standing on the track with my son and Earl Campbell's son. And I was like, man, you know what, man? I meant to tell your dad the last time I saw him that Steve Austin was a big fan of his. And if I could give you his phone number, y' all can keep up, get in touch. And he said, you know what, man, that'd be cool. My dad, you know how he loved wrestling. I was like, let's do it. And I said, you know, I'm send him a text right now. And that's when I sent you the text. So it was pretty cool to be able to connect y' all and I hope that y' all have a good conversation.
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C
We will. And there's so many places to start and I could go back and. Because anytime I research a guest, you kind of start off with a Wikipedia page, you know, you read some facts. And then I watch interviews and stuff like that. I've got a million notes done here. And last night, about 10:30, I called my wife and she goes, how you doing? I said, man, I said, trying to prep for Mark Henry. This dude has done so many things in his life. I said, I'm going to blow this thing. And I said. She goes, stop. She goes, you're overthinking it. Just talk to him like you would anybody. I said, but he's accomplished so much. He goes, stop it. He goes, go get yourself a drink. It'll be fine. So I want to ask you a question that I've been asked many times when I left the business of professional wrestling and I got taken out of context last time I said this, Mark, and it makes me angry when I get taken out of context. I was talking about making an exit from the wwe. I was talking about transitioning out of the business, not trying to get out of the wwe specifically, I was talking about wrestling in general. Most of the guys don't have a plan, you know, they just end up whatever, not doing anything or trying to.
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D
Stay in it forever or not doing anything. And while you're not doing anything, spending everything you made till you find something else, by then you done ran through everything you had. So I didn't want to do that.
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C
And I always tell people, I said, hey, man, bouncing around or running ropes in a 20 by 20 ring, traveling all over the world doesn't train you to necessarily do anything in the world. But if you have a following like you had and like I had, then you can transition out of it. Look at what the Rock did. He's the number one movie star in the world and. And he had his eyes set on that way back in the day and started nurturing that. And look how that worked. But that wasn't my plan. When I had to leave the business, I was depressed for about three years and just kind of just Wasted a lot of time and I moved out to Los Angeles. Now that being said, everybody's heard my story. Here we are, we're busting open radio. How'd you segue into radio? Because as we were talking off microphone, you were saying you grew up on radio listening to a little bitty ass speaker with three. So you've always been a radio guy and now you are on the radio. How did that happen? What prepared you for life after the ring?
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D
You know what, it really didn't prepare me. It was more of we were poor and didn't have tv and my grandmother had this old radio, like the old timey looking radios with the three knobs on it and the three little split speakers that look like a little church window. I grew up listening to baseball games and football games. And there was a guy that was the, God rest his soul, J.P. williams. And in Silsby, Texas, at KKS radio station, he would call a game and it was like you was there, you could see everything happen. And I wanted, I was like, man, I want to do that when I grow up. And little did I know that that's something that I would actually get the opportunity to do. Because when you're in the car with me driving, probably 90% of the time I'm listening to sports radio or I'm listening to Howard Stern, or I'm listening to a show of that nature. And that is what drove me to call Dave legreca, who is the host of Busted Open. Ten years ago and ten years ago I hear this wrestling show and I was always, this was kayfabe days. Still. Everybody that was on radio seemed like it was some kind of expose or they wanted to talk about how to see behind the curtain or something to that effect. And I just hated it. So I turned on the radio and I hear, this is Dave legrecord. And he was talking about wrestling, but he was talking as a fan of wrestling. Man, these guys, they almost killed themselves. And I go out and I drive 200 miles to watch this show. And then on Sunday I'll drive another 150 miles to see this show. And then I go home and then I get ready for my teaching job, which he was teaching at the time, and he was a professor at Rutgers about sports radio. And I was like, wow, this is a pretty cool dude. I'm a call into his show and it was the first show of Busted Open. And I met him two or three times in the last 10 years. And I told him, man, I love radio. And I call into your show because I appreciate you being a fan of the business and you not trying to down the business, that you uplifting the business. And he said, man, you should come on sometime. And I didn't even know I could do that, you know. So I asked the WWE about me doing a radio show and they were like, you don't have time to do a radio show. And I never asked again. So I knew that, you know, when it was all said and done for me and I made my mind up to retire from wrestling, that I was going to try to take a stab at it again. So I saw Dave at WrestleMania three years ago and I said, hey man, I still would like to come on radio with you. And he said, man, let's do it. And we started talking and here we are now with the best radio wrestling radio show in the world and with the most exposure around the world and number one on Apple podcast. And it's just been a beautiful transition.
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C
How hard was it for you to walk away from the business? Because I go back to an angle you shot. It was when you did the fake retirement and you drilled John Cena and then you would ultimately retire several years later. And man, I was like, man, you fooled everybody on that night. And I was like, man, I smell a rat. I smell a rat. Mark's got to be up to something. There's got to be something. So anyway, you end up doing what you did. But let's talk about the real retirement and we're kind of working backwards. How hard was it for you to walk away and did you walk away with just a bunch of injuries and are you currently in pain?
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D
I'm definitely in pain and I had my knee fixed. I wrestled for probably the last four years with torn meniscus in two places and a reconstructed it band that came undone over the last unraveled over the last 10 years. I have stenosis in my back. So I was like, I would wake up in the morning after, you know, a 10 hour day getting ready to wrestle and then a three hour drive after the show and I would wake up and I would be like a 70 year old man, 80 year old man that had abused their body. I said, man, I can't do this no more. And Vince was, you know, I don't know if you had one of them conversations with Vince. You go in, you go, man. You know what, man, it's been a good ride for me. Oh hell, you still a young man. You got plenty of time left. And you go in Vince office. Hell, I came out of there with a five year deal. I was like, I'm never. Well, next time I get ready to retire when this five year contract is over, I'm not going to ask him. I'm just going to disappear. And I got letter after letter like, hey, you going to resign? You going to resign? And I was like, I'm not answering. I'm not talking to nobody. I'm just going to do it. And then finally it got to the point where I had like three or four weeks left before my contract expired. And Vince called me in his office and I told him. I was like, man, I got to, I got to go. I can't. My body hurts so bad, you know, I just can't do it no more. And he's like, well, once you get, get it fixed and then come back. And I was like, I think I'm just done, man. You know? And he was like, come on, like, you got a lot left in you. I know you do. I mean, you, you too young to go home and, and sit around and just watch the kids grow up, you know, you can, you can do both. And I said, well, once again, he was like, he convinced me to coming back, but I had told people for almost a year that I was done. And I was like, well, I've been telling everybody that I'm done. And he's like, that's even better. He was like, now everybody expects it. He was like, let's give it to him. Go ahead and retire and right then we'll reel him back in. And I was like, all right, let's do it. And we sat there and worked it out. How are we going to get it done in three weeks? That's when the retirement speech came, and it was a real retirement. And, you know, a lot of people don't know me personally, but I'm kind of a thinker and I like to plan stuff out and I write a lot. So I wrote my real retirement as if I was retiring. So what people saw was my retirement. That's the only one that I've done. I didn't do another one afterwards. Like a structured retirement, because that was the real deal, right?
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C
When you walked away from the business, did you, did you miss it?
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D
I still miss it. I miss the locker room. I miss the drives where I mentored a lot of guys.
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C
Yeah, you did.
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D
From Randy Orton and Bobby Lashley and Batista and all those guys that came from Ohio Valley. Me and Big show got sent down there. Big show got sent down there to get in shape and they sent me down there to get my head together because I wanted to fight everybody that said anything negative to me. And I just. My wrestling couth was off. And I had a lot of respect for the boys. It wasn't a fact that I didn't have respect for the boys, but I came from a different place. And when you tried somebody, you better be able to whoop them where I'm from, or don't say nothing to them. Let a sleeping dog lay. And, you know, I always pick on Bradshaw because him and Ron Simmons used to entertain themselves by messing with me. And Ron would tell John, hey, you know, he don't like the black jokes. Like, don't say nothing. Don't, don't. And he's like, no, but you got. You gotta. You gotta do it because watch him get hot. Watch him. And they used to manipulate me to the. And now I'm old. And it told me. But there was a time when I wanted to just murk him. I just wanted to get him. I walked up to him behind the bleachers one time and I said, hey, man, today is the last day, you know, just like, there's nobody around. This is gonna happen again. One more joke and I'm putting your lights out. And he's like, man, what's wrong with you? Are you crazy? And I'm like, yes, I am. I was like, it's over. I was like, all your passes are gone. I was like, I don't care if they fire me, but you gonna be hurt. And he said, you fucking stupid. He was like, come over here. So he took me over to Ron. He said, ron, ask him what he just told me. And I said, I'm finna kill him. And Ron said, why you gonna kill him? He was like, because I'm tired of all his jokes. He's like, man, come on, man, I'm sorry, man. Like, I put him up to it, man. I was trying. Cause it's so entertaining seeing you get mad. He's like. And we laughed and stuff. And I realized that I had to be indoctrinated into the business. I had never really got accepted by the boys because I was so into my life outside of wrestling. I was somebody before wrestling, and you need to treat me like I was somebody before wrestling. And that don't mean nothing in the wrestling landscape. When you come into the business of sports, entertainment, pro wrestling, however you want to phrase it, you have got to love that and put everything else aside. You play football. You know how you love football. But super football didn't supersede wrestling once you got in it, right?
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C
No, no, no.
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D
So that was my problem, is I let everything else interfere with me actually being indoctrinated in the wrestling.
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C
So where was your head then when you got into business? Because, you know, you get this call from Vince and the next day you're flying up to Stanford, signed to a 10 year deal.
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D
Well, it took about. It was about a 6, 8 month period in between that first visit. But that ultimately is what happened.
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C
But you're already multiple times, you're the world's strongest man, three times, Texas State. I mean, here's the thing. When you came in as the World's Strongest Man, 1996, right after the Olympics, they had red, white and blue stuff for you, big marketing campaign. I was like, I get it, this dude's really, really strong. And I knew you were the world's strongest man. But until you really look on paper what you've done, it's flabbergasting to see the list of accomplishments. My point is, with all of that accomplished, I can imagine you kind of walking there with either a big head or the fact that, hey, I don't give a shit about this.
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D
That was hard. That was hard for me.
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C
Yeah, It's a different step. And you're the monster among a bunch of big ass powerful men in your chosen sport, weightlifting and powerlifting, which is two separate deals that we'll get into. So where were you when you got in? Because I can, after reading all this stuff, all the stuff that you did, I can understand why you'd be in a whole different mindset. You're training with the best in the world.
- [29:52]
D
Yeah, I was still the world champion in powerlifting in 97. And I was the national champion in the same year in Olympic weightlifting. And I won six national titles leading up into the Olympics in Atlanta. And I got hurt and that was the best shape I ever been in. And in the same calendar year, I did a 980 pound squat, I did a 903 pound deadlift, a 601 bench, I did a 501 cleaning jerk and a 402 snatch. No other human being walking this planet has ever done that. And I was told, you need to forget about all that and just absorb this and go on. That's like me saying, hey, you need to stop being black, you need to stop being Christian, and you need to become a vegan. Ain't no way. I can't do it. I can't do none of it. I'm never gonna stop Eating meat. I love meat. I'm a foodie. I'm a born and raised Christian. My grandmother and my mom will roll over in their graves if I switch religions. And as far as me never being black, I'm one of the blackest black people you ever go meet. It just can't happen. Steve.
- [31:16]
B
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C
But when someone says, hey, leave all that behind you, it's like, hey man, these are worldwide. You'll never.
- [32:17]
D
This is what made me me.
- [32:18]
C
So if you lose that, you lose your identity, right? And then at the end of the day, it's also your gimmick or the attraction, the world's strongest man. But then from man, it's almost like you take a Bruce Lee approach here. Okay, I can understand maybe if they said, hey, forget about it, leave it over here, leave it.
- [32:37]
D
Yeah, but that's not what I got right. And there was no such thing as a developmental wrestling system. You went to the Indies, you went to a territory and you learned how to work and they gave you baby steps of what? You put the ring up, you drove, you went and got food for the boys. You went, you know, you refereed, you rung the bell, you did everything around the business until you got brought into the business. It was not in the cards for me. They created. They hired Dr. Tom Pritchard to train me, specifically Wrestling Diet 101. Wrestling, Wrestling 101. And I went from being an anaerobic athlete to being an aerobic athlete. And people expected me to get it in a couple of weeks. I was a good athlete. You'd be hard pressed to find somebody that was able to do the things that I did strength wise. Like I just told you, that could still run a mile in under nine minutes at 375 pounds. That could have a 33 inch vertical, that could dunk a basketball with two hands. That at 410, at 400 pounds and all of the stuff that I did athletically, you tell that person that all of that. Now, nothing else exists but wrestling. And it was hard for me to do that. And also I had this problem. Not a problem with authority, but I'm externally motivated. I'm a reward driven athlete. I believe that if you win and you do good, you get rewarded. I didn't feel like wrestling was loving me back at the time. I was doing everything wrestling told me to do, but still, the boys used to haze me. I would do everything there was to do. But then when it came time for tv, I didn't get put on tv. So people say, you wrestle? Yeah. I never seen you on TV before. And I was like, man, I need to get on TV. Like, why am I not on TV? So when I. You can't just walk in Vince McMahon's office and say, hey, man, you know, I've been doing this for like six months. I ain't been on tv. I did my dumb ass. I didn't know better. Nobody told. I didn't know nothing about wrestling other than the fact that I was a fan. And you take one of these fans out here and try to make them a Hall of Fame wrestler, it just. That's not the way it works.
- [35:13]
C
Who finally, with JBL and Ron Simmons, revenue. I mean, like, who else was hazing you? Because, dude, you're one of the most powerful guys on the planet. And it just. It's interesting anybody would even consider hazing you, because I remember when you came in, I was just coming out of the ringmaster gimmick. I was just now starting to kind of maybe get a little bit of established at Stone Cold. Knew they was going to push you heavy, you know, once they got you up to speed. But I don't remember a lot of your beginning years because I was doing my own thing. Who was messing with you? How long did it take for you to fit in with the wrestling crowd or the boys?
- [35:48]
D
Well, it took me getting banished to Canada because I threatened to kill Shawn Michaels. Of course, you, like, they hid my crutches and when I broke my ankle and I just was like, okay, this is it. Like, it's over. I don't want to do this.
- [36:08]
C
If somebody pisses you off, they'd have pissed off the wrong person.
- [36:10]
D
Oh, man. And so I was like, man, you £180, man. I'll kill you, man. It'd be unfair for me to whoop you. And he's like, you threatening me? I was like, I don't Think it's really a threat. I'm just like telling you like it is. Y' all need to leave me alone. And he told Vince and Vince said, hey, man, you can't threaten our top guys. What's wrong with you? And I was like, look, man, I just ain't used to nobody trying me. Like, if they want to try me, they gotta be able to accept the consequence. No, dammit, you can't just be beating people up is not gonna fix it. They trying to make bring you in, but you. You pushing them back. And I'm like. So he said, you know what? I talked to Bret Hart and Brett is. He's training some guys up at his house and I want you to go up to Canada. And I'm thinking, oh, shit, I'll go up to Canada for two or three weeks and come back and, man, I'll be all right. I was up there for nine and a half months.
- [37:09]
C
Holy shit.
- [37:11]
D
Training every day, every morning in the ring, four hours a day. And then I got. Owen introduced me to his dad, to Stu Hart, and I started going. I would leave Brett's house where the gym was, and then I'd drive over to Stuart, the Hart house, and go wrestle down in the basement in the dungeon. And then he started teaching me wrist locks and handholds, and Stu was a master. Handholds and wrist locks. And people don't realize. People like judo. Gene Lebel and Stu Hart, like, they were real shooters. And he was like, with your strength, you could do things to somebody that would be legal. He's like, learn how to wrestle like that. I want you to put holes on people that look like you're gonna pop them. And a light switch came on and I started to work like that. And there were guys up there. Rodney Blackbeard, Andrew Martin, Tess Glenn Kolka, who played Canadian football, was an all pro Canadian football player for like 13 years. It was a bunch of guys up there, Edge and Christian, like, I mean, it was. It was. The list goes on and on. The guys that was up in Canada and I felt like after about nine months that I understood what it was to be a wrestler. Now, they should have did that to me first before putting me in the locker room with seasoned wrestlers. And then I went to Louisville for another year and I had Danny Davis, Jim Cornette, Rip Rodgers, people that could really work and really understood wrestling. You know, there's nobody that's crazier in this world than Jim Cornette, but there's nobody in this world that I feel like I've met that understood the psychology of wrestling or could teach the psychology of wrestling better than Jim Cornette. He's special, but crazy as hell. Oh, yeah, super special. I love him to death because if it wasn't for him, there wouldn't be no me in wrestling. Like, that's how serious it was. He knew that I was a reader because he would see me and I'd be reading a book and he'd be like, you know, you need to put that football magazine down. You need to grab one of these wrestling books. Here you go. He handed me a stack of books.
- [39:46]
C
Really?
- [39:47]
D
And like, what? The Hooker was the best book that I've read for wrestling. And Danny Hodge. Learning about Danny Hodge and all of these guys that he said, these guys, if they were your size, they would be put in jail. He was like, you need to beat Danny Hodge. And I'm like, wow. So then when I started reading about Danny Hodge, I realized, man, this dude was strong. Like, the stuff that they said that he could do, I was like, at 212, £214, no way. And I was interested. I was hooked. So he gave me a vehicle that strength had its place in wrestling. And that was it. I was done. I was down in Louisville for a year. I came back and, you know, I had a match at the Pillman show. And I remember seeing you at that Pillman show, and the first one after he passed, and I had a match with Hugh Morris and we killed it. And we were leapfrogging and arm dragging and stuff. And after the match, we were sitting on the floor and Ricky Steamboat walked up and he said, hey, man, what's your name? And I was like, mark Henry. He was like, you know what? It's good to see that psychology still exists in our business. That was the first time that anybody had brought me in that said, you are part of us, you're one of us. He said, our business. He didn't say my business. And I felt like as accomplished as I've ever felt in powerlifting, weightlifting, strongman or anything else. Like Ricky Steamboat in one comment validated the fact that I belonged in the business. And nothing nobody else could say would tell me that anything different.
- [41:46]
C
It's interesting, these different moments that happened and the different places you went. I never knew you spent nine, ten months up there with the hearts.
- [41:53]
D
Yeah. And I remember Natty and TJ and all of them, they were like five years old. They were babies. I used to babysit them when the parents needed to go out and have date night. Like, you Know, I'd take the kids. I cook for them, all of Brett's kids, you know, we get done eating, I cook for them. We made pasta together and spaghetti and stuff because they love spaghetti. And Austin broke a plate on the floor, bang. Because he didn't want to wash dishes. I said, okay, after you clean that up, we gonna do some push ups. I used to torture the hell out of them. I used to make them do push ups and squats. They did what we did in training.
- [42:36]
C
I know that you give Dwayne Johnson a lot of credit for helping you out a lot when they put you in the nation of domination. How and what did he do to help you?
- [42:44]
D
That was masterclass. I learned how to wrestle and I learned psychology, but I hadn't learned how to apply it in the ring. And that's something altogether different. There's never been a wrestler that was more studied than Dwayne. He was over prepared. We would talk in the car and he would have VHS tapes of matches of the people that he was going to wrestle against. And he. We used to carry a video game, Xbox, PlayStation or something. We, Sega, CD, whatever games. We played them games. And he would carry a VCR on the road with him. And he would watch tapes at night when he got to his room. And he always was writing promos. And he would practice the promos on you in the car. You know, man, I just want to ask you a question. What? Well, I mean, how do you feel about, you know, driving down to King of Prussia, New York? Well, it doesn't matter what. And he. I'm like, man, will you shut up? He's like, that's annoying, ain't it? Like, he would do that kind of stuff. He would practice everything. And he told me that I played too much. He said, you need to focus, man. Like, you could be good. He was like, if you concentrate on wrestling like you do video games and watching college football, you're gonna be great. And he was right. And I had to be more serious. When he came here, he didn't have two nickels to rub together. And I had an apartment in Stanford. And I told him, I was like, man, I got extra room in my apartment. You just move in with me. And he was like, man, I don't have no money to pay you. But I was like, look, you gonna get some money. Don't worry about it. When you get it, pay me back. So he moved in with me. I bought him a bedroom set. And about six months later, he got his first check. He paid me Back. And we lived together for about seven months before we both went to Memphis together. Memphis terror Jerry Lawler said, hey, man, I'll take them young guys so they can learn how to work on the road. And so we went down to Memphis, man, and started working and driving five hours and four hours. Like, man, what the hell? I thought we were gonna fly. He was like, nah, spoiled dude. It's over. You on the road now. He's like, this is what it really is. He was like, I used to do this with my dad, and he was destined for greatness because he had already knew everything. Yeah. You know, he accepted it a long time ago. I didn't know he was trying to explain it to me.
- [45:34]
C
Right.
- [45:34]
D
But I was in the world. Yeah.
- [45:36]
C
But also, sometimes when someone tries to explain something to you and you're just not ready to absorb it.
- [45:40]
D
I wasn't ready.
- [45:41]
C
You're just not at a level to comprehend it yet. It takes some seasoning. And then finally you go, oh, this is what they were taught.
- [45:49]
D
That's what you know, McFly.
- [45:52]
C
And you get it.
- [45:52]
D
Yeah.
- [45:53]
C
A couple of questions here. How were you and Dwayne as far as roommates? Was it like, you know, a neat freak and someone who's not a neat freak, or y' all get along like gangbusters. How was that?
- [46:04]
D
Man, we got along real good because he put his headphones on when he went to sleep, and he would put those headphones on. He'd go to sleep knocking on my door because I didn't set an alarm. I used to just get up when I got up, and he start, hey, man, come on, let's go work out now so we can go train. And then after training, we don't have to go work out. We have, like the whole day. And I was like, I hated getting up. So now I'm getting up at 6, 7 o' clock with him going to the gym. And it was the best shape I had ever been in. Like, he just. He was like, hey, man, they gonna. They gonna bring you into the nation. Like, I've been talking to Vince about you being, like, the muscle for me. And I was like, man, I don't want to be the muscle for you. That's how stupid I was.
- [46:54]
C
Jesus Christ.
- [46:55]
D
I'm telling you, I was stupid, man. I don't want to be the muscle for you. I want to be my own guy. I want to do this. And he's like, look, man, trying to give you tv. I'm trying to, like, bring you, help you out. And my God, just stupid. And we got to the building, and Ron said, look, all you gotta do is keep your mouth shut and do what I asked you to do, and you gonna be all right. And there's never been truer words. Now, a lot of people think that Dwayne was the one that came up with the know your role and shut your mouth. That was Ron Simmons. Ron Simmons was the one that was like, listen, you need to know your role, and, you know, if you can shut your mouth. And Dwayne took that and said, boom. And it was one of the things that helped him. So it was like all of us were benefitting from working with Ron. And if you saw me during that time of the nation, I was a carbon copy of Ron Simmons. I did everything he did in the ring. I wrestled exactly like Ron Simmons. And then Ron said, look, you can't do exactly what I do. Stop stealing my stuff. He was like, you need to come up with your own identity. And so it was like masterclass. Godfather and Billy Gunn used to walk, go to the ring with me, and they helped me. They showed me, like, how to come up with my own. And, man, then, I mean, it just like everything else was history then.
- [48:28]
C
I gotta ask you a question about Ron Simmons. Cause I met Ron a long time ago, back in World Championship Wrestling. We was working in Atlanta, and we always got along like gangbusters. He's a former football player, and, you know, he's a badass. My question to you is, Ron always had that tone, that voice. Ron could get your attention by reading the Alphabet. And one of the promos I was watching you guys did, he basically, he goes, hey, shut your mouth. He told you shut up. It was during a promo. But when he laid that tone on you, and you coming out of an alpha sport from all the weightlifting, powerlifting days, and all of a sudden, you're dealing with a man like Ron Simmons, and you know he was a bad dude.
- [49:06]
D
You see the operative word you use, A man. Oh, yeah. In the dictionary under man, there's a picture of Ron Simmons with his hand on his chin like the Thinker. And Ron Simmons is a grown man. There's a lot of men on this planet, but it ain't many grown men. Ron Simmons, I watched this dude go in the gym with a pair of blue jeans and cowboy boots. Put 315 on the bar. No warm up, do 20 reps, rack it, comb his hair for about two minutes, put his comb in his boot, take it off, do another set of 20. John, I'm going to the car. That was his workout. He was country strong. And it wasn't just training strong, it was from his soul. And I felt like I sized people up. I know you an athlete, you size people up. You like, look, if shit go wrong and I gotta hit this dude, let me find that weakness. I'm sizing him up. I would look at Ron sometimes and Ron was like, your grandfather, he was like, what you looking at me like that for? He knew that you were sizing him up and he was letting you know right away, don't think that it's okay for you to size me up. And I go, yes, sir. He the only person I think I ever been scared of in my life, like that's a grown man.
- [50:38]
C
It was early 90s, we was over in Japan. A bunch of us American guys were over there. This is my first time over there. We was over there for about a three week period. And I tore my tricep off my right arm on the third night. So back in the day, man, if you tore your tricep off your arm, you stayed and you worked. That's just the way it worked.
- [50:56]
D
It wasn't going to get no worse.
- [50:57]
C
No, it wasn't going to get no better. It was just the way it was. So to help me out, they put us in a lot of tags and 6 mans. So one of the nights, and you know, Ryan always had that voice and it was a six, man. And me and Arn were on the apron. Ron was in there. We were working against the Japanese guys. And you'd always hear, hey man, some of those guys are strong style or be stiff with you, sending a message or. That's how they worked, man. Those guys, it was like Shakespearean theater. Nobody, it was like light as a feather. And especially when Ron got out there, Arne used to always call me Hogg. He goes, hit me with his elbow. We're in the Japanese crowd. He goes, man, I feel sorry for those guys over there. Ron was just whipping those guys around like it was like they weighed 100, 150 pounds and just doing whatever he wanted. But it was like if Ron started taking care of business, Ron was going to take care of business. Bottom line, don't mess with him, don't fuck with him.
- [51:53]
D
No, the only time that I ever seen it in live and in 3D was dumbass Ahmed Johnson. All people in the world to pick a beef with. He kicked Ron and lacerated Ron's liver. And Ron was out for about nine months. And I'm thinking the Whole time when Ron come back, I feel sorry for this dude because he gave him his body and he kicked him as hard as I ever seen him being kicked. Teddy Long was driving the car with me, and he said, hey, man, you know Ron Simmons. Come back next week. I said, oh, man, that's cool. He was like, nah, you listen. This between me and you. I live in Atlanta. I talk to Ron all the time. Ron is pissed. And he said that when he come back, he gonna hurt this dude. And I'm like, oh, snap. Like, I couldn't. I'm like. Now I'm like. He's like, don't say nothing. You know, I'm just letting you know, you know, like, don't be around him because he got heat. I was like, all right, I ain't messing with him. Anyway, so they get back, and I remember the first time I saw Ron. Ron is always like, hey, Henry. He walked right by me, like I wasn't there. Posted up in the locker room, and I can't remember who it was. Somebody went and sat next to him. Ron grabbed all his stuff kinda in a huff, and moved it over into an area where he was by himself. And it was so unlike Ron. He was so angry. Being back at the arena, knowing that Ahmed was coming, and he was mentally preparing himself for what was about to happen. And I remember looking at the card and Ron been gone for nine months or more, and it was Ron Simmons, Ahmed Johnson. And I went, holy cow. It was a sellout. I remember being a sellout.
- [53:50]
C
Refer to the two. What you're talking about a sellout. I'm sure everybody knows.
- [53:53]
D
Okay, so for those that don't know what a. With a sellout, this is not when, you know, you sell all the tickets in the arena. I'm talking about when all the boys are standing at the curtain and they're peeking through because they want to watch what's going to happen with their real eyes rather than watching a monitor or being in the gorilla position. All the boys are watching. And I remember standing next to D Lo, and D. Lo hated Ahmed Johnson. They had had a fight earlier that year, and which DLO stretched his ass. He had, you know, Triple H, had Hunter, Hearst Helmsley at the time had a run in with him, and he threatened to beat up Hunter, and he was going to mope him, and he was like, no, but DLO said, nobody's moping nobody. And that's when they got in a fight. But DLO was standing next to him. He said, hey, this ain't Going to take long. And I went like it was a build up. And I'm telling you, it was not a lockup, it was a mauling. Ron ran through him. His back hit the ground. Ron stomped on his stomach and then when he rolled over to try to get up, Ron kicked him in the ribs, broke through his ribs. And I mean, it was like watching a tiger or a lion or something attacked some helpless animal in the wild. And Ron pinned him. And at this time, and I'm gonna use your analogy, Ahmed Johnson was over as hell during that time. The only person getting a reaction like yours was his. He was that over six months later, done. He got killed off in one night. It was that night that Ron came back and whooped his ass. His run was over and he never was the same. He had to leave. He couldn't. He couldn't be there. He couldn't be there no more.
- [55:52]
C
I didn't know that.
- [55:53]
D
Oh my God. Ron ran him out. The business and his life of crime started because he wasn't a good enough wrestler to go to WCW and be a player. People carried him his whole career. As you could tell. I don't like him. I never liked him. He was a bad example for a black man. People struggle to get in this business and to try to make a success and try to be equal and to be better than equal. And he was ruining it. And Ernie Ladd told me when I came in this business, he said, henry, don't mess it up for everybody. Look like you afterwards. And I felt like Ahmed was. He did not get that memo. Nobody told him. And I think that he was such a. A liar and people didn't have enough faith in him to do the right thing that they just wouldn't help him anyway. And so, you know, it was. He ended up doing his own thing. But he tried to peel me one night, you know, I went out, ate with him and Fatu and I turned my drink up and then it's two somas in my water. I don't drink alcohol. Ain't no telling, son. Two somas could have killed me for all I knew. It might not have, but. But I'm like, look guys, somebody got an answer for this. What happened? Who put these in my drink? Part two said, look man, I ain't saying nothing about nobody else, but I ain't do it. And it wasn't but two of them sitting there and I love Junior Ford. And we sat there, I said, look, go and finish your meal. Cause I'm going outside and you Know we're going to handle this when you come outside and 30 minutes go by, 40 minutes go by. I just pulled him and Fatu's bags out the car, threw them on the curb, and I went on to Miami. We were in West Palm. I'll never forget it. I was so angry. That was about as angry as I ever been in the business. And I never liked Nine man since. And he never apologized to nothing. You know, I mean, just like this is a guy that's based my whole life on being drug free. And you gonna give me. You gonna try to pill me? You're gonna put. You know, you go to prison for that now. Yeah, you try to. You do that, you go to prison.
- [58:10]
C
Did you never drink?
- [58:12]
D
I never drank. I drank in college. My freshman year in college, when I first left and went to Pikes Peak Community College in Colorado Springs at the Olympic Training Center. I got so sick that night, I was like, lord God, if you ever. If you deliver me from this pain and this spinning and vomiting, I'd never do it again. Never drink again.
- [58:37]
C
Are you serious?
- [58:38]
D
I don't drink. I never drank after that.
- [58:41]
C
No pills on the road, nothing.
- [58:42]
D
I never did. I don't smoke. I smoke cigars with the boys every now and then, but that's more social. It's not like I smoke cigars every week or every month. Every two or three months, I might smoke a cigar. That's about it.
- [58:57]
C
There's a lot of temptations on the road. How did you stay steadfast?
- [59:01]
D
And strip clubs. Everybody got a vice. Everybody.
- [59:10]
C
Hallelujah.
- [59:12]
D
Okay. Ted DiBiase used to say that everybody had a price. You just coined a new T shirt. Everybody's got a vice. Man, I was a fool, man. I used to hit. I hit them strip joints, man, them shake clubs. I hung out with the boys. If you spent five, I spent five. We had a ball. And then you gotta grow up and, you know, I just grew up and became a family guy, man.
- [59:40]
C
That's awesome. You got to a guy that you didn't like, and that guy has said things about me that are untrue. I'm not a fan either, but I wanted.
- [59:50]
D
Oh, I heard him call you a racist. Yep. Out of all the people on earth that's of Caucasian persuasion, I would attest that. That you are not a racist.
- [60:02]
C
Thank you for attesting to that.
- [60:04]
D
I heard.
- [60:05]
C
I heard.
- [60:06]
D
I heard what he said.
- [60:07]
C
I've never been able to address that because I've never had or needed to.
- [60:11]
D
Yeah, you didn't have to validate his stupidity.
- [60:14]
C
No, that's, that's a completely fabricated story and complete horseshit and I've maintained my silence and this is the first time I've ever, ever addressed it or talked about it.
- [60:24]
D
I'm glad we can because the source that it came from was not valid enough for anybody to believe it. Anyway.
- [60:33]
C
Thank you for joining us. For another classic episode of the Steve.
- [60:35]
B
Austin show, please leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts and tell your friends.
- [60:40]
C
For more Steve Austin show go to podcast1.com that's podcast O N e this October fear is free on Pluto TV with horror movie collections from Paranormal Activity.
- [61:00]
D
The ring you will die in seven.
- [61:02]
C
Days scream and from dusk till dawn.
- [61:05]
B
This is my kind of place and.
- [61:07]
C
Don'T miss the man made nightmares in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or the world world ending chaos in 28 days later something in the blood all the scares all for free Pluto TV stream now pay never.