Mark Henry Recalls Threatening Shawn Michaels Backstage After Crutches Prank, How Vince McMahon Reacted To It

– During the latest Steve Austin Show, Mark Henry recalled how threatening Shawn Michaels led to him training with the Harts in Canada where he really started to learn the ropes. Henry recalled that he was having a difficult time fitting in, falling victim to regular pranks by the WWE talent until Shawn Michaels pushed him over the edge and he threatened the WWE star. Vince McMahon then sent him to train with Bret Hart, which led to him training with Stu Hart for nine months-plus during which he learned what it meant to work as a pro wrestler.

Highlights fromo the discussion are below, along with the full podcast:

On how long it took him to fit in with the boys: “Well, it took me getting banished to Canada, because I threatened to kill Shawn Michaels. Like, they hid my crutches 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.’ Aw, man, so I was like, ‘Man, you 180 pounds, man. I’d kill you man. It’d be unfair for me to whip you.’ And he was like ‘You threatening me?’ I was like, ‘I don’t think it’s really a threat. I’m just 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 wanna try me they gotta be able to accept the consequences,’ [Vince said] ‘No, dammit! You can’t just be beating people up! It’s not gonna fix it. They’re trying to bring you in, but you’re pushing them back.’”

On being sent to train with the Harts: “So he said, ‘You know what, I’ll talk to Bret Hart. And Bret is training some guys up at his house. And I want you to go up to Canada.’ And I’m thinking, ‘Oh, s**t. I’ll go up to Canada for two or three weeks and come back, and man, I’ll be alright.’ I was up there for nine and a half months. Training every day, every morning, in the ring, four hours a day. And then I got Owen [to] introduce me to his dad, to Stu Hart. And I started going, I would leave Bret’s house where the gym was, and then I’d drive over to Stu’s house, the Hart House, and go wrestle down in the basement in The Dungeon. And then he started teaching me wrist locks and hand holds. And Stu was a master of hand holds and wrist locks, and people don’t realize, people like Judo Gene LeBell and Stu Hart, like they were real shooters. And he was like, ‘With your strength, you could do things to somebody that would be illegal.’ He’s like, ‘Learn how to wrestle like that. I want you to put holds on people that look like that you’re going to pop them.’ And a light switch came on and I started to work like that.”

On training with future stars at the Hart Dungeon: “There were guys up there, Rodney Blackbeard, Andrew Martin — Test — Glenn Kulka, 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 and it was — the list goes on and on of guys that was up in Canada. And I felt like after nine months, I understood what it was to be a wrestler. They should have did that to me first before putting me in the locker room with seasoned wrestlers.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The Steve Austin Show with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.

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