WWE HOFer Mark Henry Explains Why He Hung Up On Vince McMahon During First Phone Call

In the mid-90s, Mark Henry was a highly sought-after talent after he broke all sorts of records in weightlifting. For his incredible feats of strength, he received a ton of mainstream attention, guest starring in popular late-night talk shows and being featured in magazines such as "People," "Vanity Fair," "ESPN The Magazine," and "Life." It was during this period that he connected with Vince McMahon, which led to him signing a 10-year deal with the sports entertainment juggernaut. 

However, as revealed by Mark Henry in an interview with "The Kurt Angle Show," his first conversation with the WWE boss did not go over smoothly.

"I remember doing Oprah, and Oprah asked me what I did [growing up], and I was like, 'I watched wrestling and played video games,'" Henry recalled. "She was like, 'Well, that sounds kinda boring.' And I was like, 'No, wrestling is the best!' So, my manager was friends with a guy who knew Vince ... and one day, Vince called me." 

Amazingly, Mark Henry thought it was a prank call from a person pretending to be the WWE founder. "He's like, 'This is Vince McMahon,' and I was like, 'From wrestling?' He was like, 'Yeah, would love to talk to you.' I said, 'Yeah right!' and hung up on his ass!' thinking it was one of my friends playing jokes on me."

A few minutes later, the phone rang again, and it was Mark Henry's coach, who verified the previous call was from the real Vince McMahon. "Vince called back, and he's like, 'That's not the first time I've been hung up on. I'd like you to come to Connecticut and see how we do things.'"

Mark Henry admittedly started blabbering out of nervousness until he agreed to take the trip to WWE HQ. Despite signing the WWE deal in 1995, Mark Henry didn't appear on WWE programming until 1996 as he was preparing for the 1996 Summer Olympics.