Mark Henry is a former Olympic weightlifter, strongman, powerlifter, and WWE wrestler. At the 1995 Pan American Games, he won all three medals – gold, silver and bronze in super heavyweight weightlifting. He lost his father when he was 12 years old. He was already 5″ 5″ tall and 102 kg in 4th grade.

Born name

Mark Jerrold Henry

nickname

Markswoggle, Sexual Chocolate, World’s Strongest Man

Sun sign

Twins

Place of birth

Silsbee, Texas, USA

residence

Austin, Texas, United States

nationality

training

Mark Henry went to Silsbee High School in his hometown of Silsbee.

occupation

Powerlifter, Olympic lifter, strongman and professional wrestler

family

• Father – Ernest Henry (died from complications from diabetes when Mark was 12)
• Mother – Barbara Jean
• Siblings – Pat Henry (Older Brother)
• Other – Kevin Henry (cousin) (former NFL professional player and former Pittsburgh Steelers)

Manager

Mark Henry can be reached through the WWE Performance Center.

Build

Big

Height

188 cm (6ft 2in)

weight

163 kg or 359 lbs

girlfriend/spouse

Mark Henry has dated

• Jana Henry – Mark Henry is married to Jana Henry. During their marriage, she gave birth to a son, Jacob, and a daughter, Joanna.

race/ethnicity

Black

hair colour

Black

eye color

dark brown

sexual orientation

Just

distinguishing features

• Large and imposing body
• Bushy beard

shoe size

16EEE

brand promotion

Mark Henry has appeared in a TV commercial for –

• Carl’s Jr. Tex Mex Bacon Thickburger
• hardees

religion

His religious views are not known.

Known for

• Be a successful powerlifter. In 1995 he managed to win the WDFPF World Championship. He was also crowned US National Champion twice.
• His successful career as a weightlifter. He has been crowned US National Weightlifting Champion three times. He also won the first annual Arnold Strongman Classic in 2002.
• His successful career as a professional wrestler during which he became the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and a two-time WWF World Champion.

First wrestling match

In September 1996, Mark made his wrestling debut in a match against Jerry Lawler at the Inside Your House: Mind Games event.

first movie

In 2010, Mark made his big screen debut in the romantic comedy film, MacGruber .

First TV show

In 1996, Mark Henry made his first TV show appearance on the popular talk show, Late Night with Conan O’Brien .

Personal trainer

Mark Henry regularly goes to the gym to ensure thathe retains his enviable strength. Besides lifting heavy weights at the gym, he also focuses on cardio sessions. Overall, he tries to do cardio 4 times a week. His usual cardio sessions last about an hour.

In terms of diet, he needs to eat a lot to strengthen his massive physique. He also drinks a lot of water throughout the day. His daily diet plan looks like this:

• Breakfast – He usually eats bacon or chicken for breakfast. It doesn’t count calories or portion size. He only eats until he feels full.
• Lunch – A whole chicken with lots of potatoes.
• Dinner – The last meal of the day is also a whole chicken and lots of potatoes.
• Snacks – To keep hunger pangs at bay between meals, he drinks protein shakes and eats lots of fruit.

Mark Henry Favorite Things

• Wrestler – André the giant

Mark Henry facts

1. As a child, he dreamed of becoming a baseball star.
2. While trying to touch André the giant at the wrestling show in Beaumont, Texas, he fell over the barricade. He was picked up by Andre and placed behind the barricade.
3. At the age of 12 he was diagnosed with dyslexia.
4. During his school days he played soccer. After straining the ligaments on his wrist in the first game of last year, he decided to quit school football.
5. By the time he reached 4th grade he weighed 225 pounds and was 5ft 5 tall.
6. When he was 10 years old, his mother bought him a set of weights so he could take advantage of his immense growth.
7. When he won the National High School Powerlifting Championship in 1990, he became the first teenager to squat 377 kg. He was also the first teenager to lift a total of 922 kg.
8. By the time he graduated from high school, he was holding national and state records in all four powerlifting categories – bench press at 525 pounds (238 kg), deadlift at 815 pounds (370 kg), squat at 832 pounds (377 kg) and 2,033 overall pounds (922 kg).
9. By the age of 19, he had managed to qualify for the weightlifting category at the Summer Olympics. He placed 10th in the Super Heavyweight division.
10. He has the distinction of being the first powerlifter to raw deadlift 900 lbs and squat 900 lbs without a squat suit. He was also the first competitor to handle a raw quantity of 1050 kg. He was tested for drugs before he accomplished all of those feats.
11. In 1996 he signed a lucrative contract with the World Wrestling Federation worth $10 million. He was signed for a period of 10 years.
12. His last appearance in Olympic weightlifting was in 1996, when he vowed not to return to the sport until he was cleared of anabolic steroid use.
13. In the late 1990s, he was part of a couple’s awkward and controversial storylines when he took on the role of sexual chocolate. One of the storylines from this period included his alleged sexual addiction.
14. He announced that in 2002 he competed in the Arnold Strongman Classic in honor of his mother, who gave him his first weight.
15. After winning the Arnold Strongman Classic, he received a lobster, a vacation trip, and $10,000 in cash.
16. In July 2006, he was critically injured in a 6-man tag team match. He had split his patella in half and also torn his patellar tendon from the bone.
17. In March 2018, WWE inducted him into the WWE Hall of Fame.
18. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.