Mark Henry reveals what he thinks the real war in wrestling is and praises Toni Storm’s new gimmick.
Henry has been in wrestling since 1996. He has seen WWF turn into WWE and the only viable threat to WWE in a long time arise in AEW. He was also there during every era in wrestling starting during the beloved Attitude Era. This means he saw the Monday Night Wars firsthand between WCW and WWF.
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Wrestling has come a very long way since then. WCW may no longer be around, but that doesn’t mean the wars in wrestling aren’t still going full force. Fans have taken it upon themselves to pick sides, WWE or AEW. The two sides have drawn very clear lines and hate the other side.
Mark Henry On The Real War
Mark Henry admits that there is a very clear war in wrestling, but it isn’t against another promotion. The war is on a very personal level, it is against other wrestlers and against themselves.
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On a recent episode of Hall of Fame, Mark Henry explains why he thinks the real war in wrestling is a war of segments.
“There is no war,” Mark Henry said. “You know what the war is? The war is the ratings, in your segment. Do people turn the channel to another channel when you’re on? When ‘Sexual Chocolate’ was on, they didn’t turn the channel. When ‘The World’s Strongest Man’ and the ‘Hall of Pain’ was on, they didn’t turn the channel. You can put me up there with some of the best. When Booker T was King Booker, they didn’t turn the channel.
So that’s where the war is. The war is in the segments, the individuals, but if I’m the WWE, I don’t want to be on the same night as AEW because I want all the attention. If I’m AEW, I’m not gonna move my show to a day that WWE is on, unless I’m preempted. That’s the whole point of AEW going to Tuesday is because we had to. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, we gonna go there and pi*s in their corn flakes.’ That ain’t what we did.”
– H/T To Wrestling Inc. For Transcription –
There’s Plenty Of Wrestling To Go Around
The tribalism in wrestling is out of control. It can make wrestling not fun to be a fan of. The need to pick sides is unnecessary. There is plenty of high level wrestling in all the big promotions and plenty of wrestling to go around.
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Wrestlers like Edge and Cody Rhodes jumping from one promotion to the other helps to make the difference between each promotion not such a vast divide. It is quite possible that anyone’s favorite wrestler will be in another promotion in six months time.
Speaking of high level wrestlers and people’s favorite wrestlers, Henry showed some praise to one of AEW’s top women.
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Mark Henry shared some praise for Toni Storm and her transformation into a vastly different gimmick.
“On the women’s side, she already was an established talent, Toni Storm. Toni realizes that it’s not about how you look, it’s not about who you’re connecting with, it’s about how you make people feel,” Henry said.” “Bro, as good as she was, you look at Toni Storm right now, she’s killing it. She got the attention of the wrestling world because of her personality and the fact that she’s doing something different. That feels like her.”
– H/T Wrestling Inc. –
Like Nothing Else In Wrestling
Storm made a drastic change from a rock-and-roll and edgy gimmick to an old Hollywood one with her Timeless Toni Storm gimmick. She has engulfed herself in this new gimmick and has even adopted a mid-Atlantic accent like what was seen back in the ‘30s and ‘40s. Her intro is black and white and reminiscent of a silent film opening.
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Storm takes her already vast talent and mixes it with something extremely unique. It doesn’t hurt that her catchphrase, “chin up, t**s out,” is also very unique and catchy.
Storm has broken off from The Outcasts and has been feuding with its leader, Saraya. She even had a championship match with Saraya for the AEW Women’s World Championship before Hikaru Shida recently won it.
Do you think there is still a war in wrestling between promotions? If so, who do you think is winning the war? Do you think there is a different kind of war going on as well? Do you like this new Toni Storm? Was her old gimmick better? Let us know on social media if you think Storm will have gold around her waist by this time next year.
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Sources: Wrestling Inc., Hall of Fame, Wrestling Inc.
