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Mark Henry has revealed he had to lie about Daniel Bryan's stature in order to bring him into WWE.
During a recent appearance on BT Sport's The Run-In, the WWE Hall of Famer recalled lying to other WWE staff members about the leader of the YES! movement in order to get him through the door. Henry said Bryan was 6 feet 1 inches tall and weighed over 200 pounds - neither of which were true.
Hilariously, Henry recalled being questioned about Bryan when he arrived at WWE. The World's Strongest Man said he told WWE staff Bryan "must have had lifts in his shoes."
Here's what Mark Henry said about bringing Daniel Bryan into WWE:
"I had to lie to everybody’s face to get Daniel Bryan like that. They wanted guys that were big and huge. I said “Man, this guy is like 6’1, 200 pounds, he can get it done!” And when he got there, they were like, “This guy’s not 6’1?!” And I was like, “Oh, he must have had lifts in his shoes! I don’t know.”"
Mark Henry retired from in-ring competition shortly after WrestleMania 33. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame the following year.
Mark Henry praises Daniel Bryan
Mark Henry would go on to laud the skills of Daniel Bryan, saying he was already well-prepared to be a WWE Superstar by the time he reached the company:
"But I knew he was really good. And sometimes, when you’re really good, it doesn’t matter what your size is. And he was just 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."
Of course, Daniel Bryan went on to become a multiple-time world champion in WWE. He is scheduled to face Roman Reigns and Edge for the Universal Championship on Night Two of WrestleMania 37.
