Mark Henry has revealed why he once lied to WWE officials to help Bryan Danielson secure a contract with the company.
Before signing with the WWE in 2009, Bryan Danielson had already built an impressive resume on the independent wrestling scene. After signing with the company, he was renamed Daniel Bryan and went on to achieve incredible success. He eventually became a Grand Slam Champion, WrestleMania main eventer and one of the most respected stars in WWE.
However, Bryan Danielson’s path to WWE almost didn’t happen. Mark Henry, who strongly believed in his talent, recently explained how he played a key role in helping him get noticed by the company.
Speaking on The Undertaker’s Six Feet Under Podcast, Mark Henry recalled pushing WWE to take a closer look at Bryan Danielson. He said, “I didn’t train Bryan Danielson, I just saw Bryan on TV and said ‘hey y’all need to get this dude’, because I saw a match he had and I was like ‘this dude is as good as people we’ve got in WWE’.”
He told the officials that Danielson was around six feet, even though he knew that wasn’t accurate. “And I lied, I told them he was like six feet tall because they wanted bigger guys, like 200 lbs, and Bryan’s 5′ 11” maybe.
Looking back, Henry said seeing Danielson become a Hall of Fame–level talent made the decision worth it. “To have somebody that’s a Hall of Fame calibre wrestler that you can hang your hat on is pretty damn cool.” [H/T: Wrestletalk]
Danielson had an incredible career in WWE before leaving the company in 2021 to sign with AEW. Last year, he retired from full-time professional wrestling but continues to work behind the scenes in AEW. He has also been announced as a commentator.
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