One of the biggest criticisms surrounding All Elite Wrestling since its inception has been its usage of former WWE talent. The company has its fair share of ex-WWE stars, even though most of the wrestlers who signed with the Jacksonville-based promotion only did so after asking out of their WWE contracts. Mark Henry recently signed with the company to work as a commentator and backstage coach and brought up the topic on a recent edition of Busted Open Radio.
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“At some point, we have to address in this show, the haters,” Henry said (h/t WrestlingNews.co). “I love the fans. I love the people that really care, and are positive, and are willing to accept what they get from pro wrestling. But then again, we have the haters. I had to lean in when I said the haters because they are there, and they are in full force. I keep hearing this, ‘Wow, the WWE is invading AEW. First they had Big Show, then they had Christian, now they have Mark Henry, and they’re going to bring in more WWE guys, and they’re going to put those guys in front of the AEW guys.’
“Whoever came up with that mentality is a moron,” he continued. “Like guys, cut it out. The reason that you bring in those guys is AEW is a new company. You bring in people that have experience. If you have corporate America, let’s just say we are corporate America, we’re making tire irons. This is a random something. We’re making spatulas. Are you going to let a guy who’s been making spatulas for three years be the boss, or are you going to bring in somebody that’s been making spatulas for 25 years? I’ve tried every form of metal that you can use to make a spatula. I’ve tried every form of plastic. We’ve done carbon fiber. We’ve done rubber. You’ve got to know what you’re doing in order to give the best product.”
Henry continued — “So you haters out there, think about that little message today.You know what?AEW is not broken.If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.They’re successful already.What our job is now, and I say our because now I work for them, is to fine tune.All you musicians out there, you know when your guitar is off.You know when the keys in the piano are a little bit lax, and you have to get everything tightened and tuned.That’s what AEW needs.They’re successful already.They have winners, Kenny Omega, The Bucks, Cody, Sammy Guevara.I’ll go so far as to say, you know who the kids like?They like Jungle Boy. They like Fuego.People that are not super on top, Fuego is not super on top, but the kids love him.”
Do you agree with “The World’s Strongest Man?” Let us know your thoughts in the comments below! This week’s AEW Dynamite will once again air at 10 p.m. ET on Friday night on TNT.
