Mark Henry Announced as Member of 2018 WWE Hall of Fame Class

WWE announced on Monday that Mark Henry would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a part of the 2018 class.

Henry will be part of an inductee class that also includes Goldberg, The Dudley Boyz, Ivory, Jeff Jarrett, Hillbilly Jim, Kid Rock and Jarrius "JJ" Robertson, who will receive the Warrior Award. The honorees will be inducted on Friday, April 6, in New Orleans as a part of the WrestleMania 34 festivities. 

Henry's career began as a powerlifter, and he competed at the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics. Shortly after the 1996 Games, he joined the WWE.

It nearly didn't happen, though, after he hung up on WWE owner Vince McMahon when he called, believing he was the victim of a prank, as he revealed to Nick Schwartz of For The Win:

"...My manager at the time called me back and said, 'Hey, I just had Vince McMahon call you and he said you hung up!’ And I was like, 'That was Vince McMahon for real!?'

"I felt so dumb. Here he is, one of the most influential people in the wrestling industry calls you and you hang up on him thinking it was a joke.

"Eventually I called back and I said, 'Hey, I hope you understand, I thought it was somebody playing a joke on me.' And he said, 'Don’t worry about it, I’m glad I could get you back on the phone.' He was like, 'I want you to come to Connecticut and see how we do things up here.'"

Early in his WWE tenure, "Henry excelled inside the squared circle as a member of The Nation of Domination alongside Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, and also became the notorious ladies’ man known as 'Sexual Chocolate' during WWE’s over-the-top Attitude Era."

Henry introduced his opponents to The Hall of Pain and finished them off with the World’s Strongest Slam, and he eventually became the WWE's world heavyweight champion in 2011. He also was the ECW world heavyweight champion in 2008.

He last appeared in a match at Wrestlemania 33.

Henry told Schwartz:

"I want people, when they remember me, to think of the Hall of Pain, when I was catching guys, 275 pounds. Picking up Big Show, close to 500 pounds, over my head and driving him through a table. And picking up Kane, 320 pounds and slamming him through tables. And jumping off the top rope to the ring and jumping out of the ring to the floor and splashing Kurt Angle. I wanted people to remember me at my greatest."