Mark Henry.
“The World’s Strongest Man,” Mark Henry has been around wresting for a while.
Earlier this week, the WWE Hall of Famer joined me on my Instagram Live #WORDSWITHSCOOP broadcast and the former two-time WWE World Champion and WWE European Champion discussed what this weekend’s Wrestlemania 36 will be like without fans present.
Here are some notes:
His perspective on the influence of Wrestlemania and the NBA possibly not having fans at the event, and what the fans mean to him:
“The show I was on was NBA Radio and a lot of questions about whether not Wrestlemania is being an influencer on still doing the competitions, still competing, still doing the shows and what it’s like to do it with no fans in the audience and if how do I feel like it would fare for the NBA if they started the season back up and did the playoffs with no people… and I thought it would be fine. Because ultimately, it’s sideline against sideline and people get to watch. So, tell all the players you’re playing against the other team. You’re playing for your teammates and it just so happens that there’s going to be millions of people are going to live stream around the world. So it wouldn’t make a big deal in my opinion.”
Perspective of what WWE fans mean to him:
“Oh we definitely we miss it!! The crowd is a good barometer of what you’re doing and if it’s working or not – am I emotionally reaching you… and basketball is such a perfect game of emotion because as soon as go to the foul line and you have to hit those shots to get points for your team, emotionally you have to balance yourself. But if there’s a crowd, they can sway the balance. In wrestling, it’s not so much. In wrestling, the crowd lets you know if something is working or not. You know, like you get conformation like, ‘Oh yeah? You diggin’ that? Lemme give ‘em a liitle bit more of that!’ And that’s what I think is going to be missed in pro wrestling, but I don’t think you’ll have much of the same effect in basketball except for at the foul line. Because the squeak of the court, the reaction between players and coaches talking to the referees, your teammates screaming watch out for the screens, watch this… there’s going to be enough sound effects and enough noise and enough energy on the floor so you can adjust. And then you have your chest beaters. And you know what I mean by chest beaters. They thrive…”