WrestleMania week is upon us, and that means we're getting lots of fun interviews hyping up the Show of Shows. WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry, for example, recently caught up with BT Sports' The Run-In to share his take on the PPV, and reflected on Daniel Bryan's surprisingly successful WWE career.
The leader of the Yes Movement may be one of the most popular Superstars in the company, but back in 2010 when he was hired, he wasn't exactly the typical sort of wrestler WWE hired.
Henry revealed that he played a small role in getting Bryan on WWE's radar, but to do so, he had to tell a little (no pun intended) white lie. "I had to lie to everybody’s face to get Daniel Bryan looked at," the World's Strongest Man recalled. "They wanted guys who were big and huge. And I said ‘this guy is like 6’1, 200 lbs. He can get it done."
"Then he got there and they were like ‘that guy’s not 6’1!’ And I said that he must’ve had lifts in his shoes."
Henry could go on to say that he's not surprised Bryan managed to exceed all expectations. "I knew he was really good. Sometimes when you’re really good it don’t matter what your size is. And he was one of those guys that I just knew. I was like ‘man this guy is a really really excellent wrestler, excellent psychologist.’ He was already wrestling. They didn’t have to show him how to do anything, they didn’t have to wait a long time. And he was able to get it done."
That he did, and Bryan will headline another WrestleMania during "Night 2" on Sunday when he faces Roman Reigns and Edge for the Universal Championship.