WWE Money in the Bank 2011: Mark Henry and the World's Strongest Push

Mark Henry’s victory over Big Show was a thing of booking beauty.

For the first time in a very long while, WWE sacrificed one of its bigger stars to make another superstar look good.

Big Show, a multiple-time WWE Champion and one of the few big-name talents the company has left, was utterly destroyed by Mark Henry at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view Sunday night.

And it worked.

Vince McMahon and his creative team booked Mark Henry like the monster heel he should be.

Mark destroyed Big Show and looks better because of it.

He is a bona-fide killer heel that will undoubtedly populate the main event picture on Smackdown, as many people expected he would.

And he deserves it.

Mark Henry has been more motivated than he has ever been since arriving back on Smackdown. After being lost in the shuffle and all but ignored by the Raw creative team, Henry’s career has been reinvigorated on Smackdown.

He is a top talent on the blue brand, and one of the men most expect to wear championship gold by the end of the year.

Just like on his run on the SyFy channel’s ECW, Henry comes off as a credible threat because of the way in which he is being promoted. He is tearing through talent bigger than himself and has looked absolutely dominant doing it.

He pinned Randy Orton clean on the June 24 edition of Smackdown, and no one questioned it.

It remains to be seen what happens with Henry going forward.

Christian, a heel, is the new World Heavyweight Champion. Daniel Bryan, a face, is the Money in the Bank winner for Smackdown. And Randy Orton remains the face of the brand.

Right there are three men almost guaranteed to be in the title picture through the end of the year.

But Henry, more than either Christian or Bryan, appears ready to assume his position as World Champion and if, for whatever reason, he does not accomplish his goal during this latest push, it is unlikely he ever will.

That would be a real shame.