WWE: How Does Mark Henry Compare to Power Heel Greats?

They did it. They actually did it.

Mark Henry walked into WWE Night of Champions as the guy who was supposedly not good enough, not important enough, to be considered as anything other than mid-card, and he walked out as the new World Heavyweight Champion.

While I am surprised, I am happy that he has finally gotten his due.

Mark is the kind of worker that you want in your locker room. He’s big, he’s strong, he has intensity and he knows what it takes to get over on the mic.

He’s also been a good employee for 15 years, done everything asked of him and made the most of what he’s been given.

Payback had to come sooner or later.

Mark has finally gotten his due. The time he’s put in has paid off, and now he is the second-most important champion in WWE.

He is physically the most dominating World Champion since The Undertaker. At first glance it does seem that, as long as his push continues, Mark Henry could remain World Champion for a good while.

It makes sense, especially considering that Vince McMahon is notorious for being high on the big man as a top draw in the company.

This may end up being very good for Henry, as without Undertaker as a full time in-ring performer and with Kane and Big Show still on the shelf, SmackDown is in serious need of a power wrestler as a top guy.

Being a power heel wrestler? Even better.

For me, Henry’s run is very reminiscent of Brock Lesnar, when he first came into the company. No one could touch Brock. He was a force of nature whose punishing style completely overwhelmed even his toughest opponents.

He was a bloodthirsty predator who was always on the hunt, and very few were able to escape his animal-like rage.

Batista as a power heel was similar to Lesnar—but also very different. His killer instinct was a lot like Brock’s, and both men had intensity on a whole other level.

But Batista had a swagger that Brock did not have, a measure of ego about him that separated him from everyone else in the locker room. Batista was the power heel with a cocky smirk on his face and an overconfident attitude to match.

The aforementioned Big Show and Kane, while most recently baby-face wrestlers, had great runs as heels. Each man has an insane amount of strength and used power moves every time they were in the ring. Both men have to be included in the discussion of great power heels.

Sycho Sid, despite his reputation of being all about himself and not respecting the business, was an undeniably great power heel. His huge stature and high impact moves place him among the best big men of all time.

Vader, a legitimate tough guy who was hard as nails and destroyed his opponents, is perhaps the man who is the most comparable to Henry, in terms of height and weight. Imagine how devastating these two would have been as a tag team.

King Kong Bundy, Big John Studd, Bam Bam Bigelow—all three enjoyed good runs as the power man antagonist, constantly overpowering and out-muscling their opponents. They each defined what it meant to be a power heel in WWE.

So many great power wrestlers, so many opportunities for comparison. At times, it seems impossible to narrow it down.

Only time will tell where Mark Henry will rank among the power heel greats of WWE, but right now, he is in a class all on his own.

He has always been thought of as nothing but supporting cast, but now he is main-event material. His rise has been slow and steady, and now he has reached the level that most wrestlers only dream of.

Now, it’s on to Hell in a Cell, and his match against former World Champion Randy Orton. If he comes through this with the strap, then his push will have taken yet another important step. It’s another win that—this time—will not be a surprise, but perhaps an expectation.