Mark Henry Says “50/50” Split Among Black Wrestlers Re: Hogan’s Return

Mark Henry was interviewed by TMZ about Hulk Hogan’s apparent return to WWE and said that it’s a “50/50” split among black wrestlers, with some saying, “to hell with him,” and some saying, “if he’s willing to make a change and try to help out and speak out and be a part of the answer rather than a part of the problem, then it’s all good.”

Here’s a transcript of the interview:

Mark Henry: “You know what, I think it’s good in a lot of ways because it’s always a learnable moment, a teachable moment. It teaches forgiveness, it teaches that we can step up from adversity. It also shows that in a time when there’s so much racial divide with government and different things, different social groups, that there’s some people that actually have affinity and care and want to redeem themselves, so I hope that he can do that.”

TMZ: Have you spoken to him? Do you feel yourself that he’s genuine?

Mark: “I do. I do feel like he genuinely wants to clear his name. He sees people that used to respect him, they look at him different and it hurts. And he brought that on himself, but he’s trying his best to clear that up. I don’t know if it’s from… some people are going to say ‘he’s missing them big checks. So he wants to rectify that situation.’ You know, that’s always a fact. We always want to keep our buying power up, but I don’t think that’s the case with him. I think that if he did some appearances where he helped raise money to go to some of these organizations that need help in the inner cities and urban sectors, then I think people will be less likely to think that it’s all just a ploy for him to make more money.”

TMZ: How are other African American wrestlers taking the news? Is anybody upset or is everybody in agreement that it’s time that he be allowed back?

Mark: “No, it’s 50/50. I’ve talked to guys that were like, ‘to hell with him.’ And I have guys like, ‘You know what man, if he’s willing to make a change and try to help out and speak out and be a part of the answer rather than a part of the problem, then it’s all good.'”