WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry decided to leave WWE and signed with AEW in 2021 as a coach, mentor, and occasional commentator. Unfortunately, the company never really took advantage of the World's Strongest Man, leaving him as yet another star signed by Tony Khan to temporarily boost ratings.
Unsurprisingly, Henry decided to leave AEW and may now be WWE-bound; during last week's RAW, he appeared in the crowd alongside his son, Jacob Henry, who has signed a development deal with the company.
As someone who has had a foot in both locker rooms, Henry addressed the difference between the AEW and WWE locker rooms during a recent edition of Busted Open Radio.
"The WWE has an advantage because they have experience and time on their side," Henry started. "AEW's a young company, and it needs to have the screws tightened still. And some decisions have to be made: who's gonna run the show? And how soon can you get to work?"
"Because a lot of times things are left hanging in the balance too long. And stuff ends up not getting done," he continued. "And then there's the afterthought: 'Oh s***, we gotta go do this. We start in 20 minutes.' It's too late by then."
The WWE that Henry left in 2021 is vastly different to the company that's now overseen by Paul "Triple H" Levesque. The environment backstage is believed to have changed for the better and wrestlers are considerably more happy without Vince McMahon in charge.
"I see people under less pressure," Henry said of his recent RAW visit. "There's a certain level of allowed creativity. I've heard that there's people that have been allowed to make a mistake or two."
"You know what, sometimes it goes a long way when the pressure's not on you to go and do exactly as you're told. To go out there and create, be an artist. If you fail, you're going to be micromanaged more. But, at least have that opportunity to go and create. That's almost freedom."
While Henry's in-ring career has ended, there's still a huge amount he could bring to the table and WWE is no doubt aware of that. Whether they intend to recruit him for a backstage role remains to be seen, though the future certainly looks bright for his son.
As always, you can let us know your thoughts on these comments in the usual place.