“He Was Carrying the Guy”- WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry Reveals How He Scouted Daniel Bryan for WWE

Daniel Bryan is one of WWE’s most popular names and crowd connectors. Renowned for his technical style, he is regarded by many as the best wrestler in the world. However, through all the fame and glory, one must not forget the man that brought him to WWE- Mark Henry. 

The Hall of Famer was the first to spot his talent and actually brought him to WWE’s talent development in Tampa, Florida. Speaking on Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette, Mark Henry described the moment he first saw Daniel Bryan.

“I saw Daniel Bryan at an Indie show in Canada and I was in Montreal. And I was like, ‘Yeah, that dude is good’. And, you know, I could tell that he was carrying the guy that he was working with,” Henry said. “He made his a** look good. He was carrying him. And they said, Bryan Danielson.”

Daniel Bryan did not believe Mark Henry was who he said he was!

‘The World’s Strongest Man’ then went on to contact Bryan on his social media handle. Quite hilariously, Bryan did not believe he was who he said he was!

“I said ‘Hey man, I saw your match against so and so and he was like ‘Oh man, thanks’ whatnot. ‘It wasn’t one of my best ones’ and I was like ‘It was pretty good to me?’ By ‘I want you to come to a to a camp’ and he was like, ‘Yeah, for who’, because I didn’t introduce myself. When I said, ‘I want you to come to a camp down in Tampa’ and he’s like, ‘Oh, for WWE?’ And I was like ‘Yeah’. And I was like ‘Man, I’m Mark Henry.’ He said, no, you’re not!’”

After finally believing him, Bryan came down to the training area and Mark Henry then described what he had to do. The Hall of Famer explained how WWE was looking for bigger, stronger men than what they had on the roster then. 

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Henry claimed he “lied through his teeth” and said Daniel Bryan was 6 feet 6 inches tall and weighed around 200 pounds. This was done just to get him in, and that’s how Bryan got through to FCW. 

The rest, as they say, is history. Daniel Bryan went on to have one of the most popular crowd chants in history with unreal support behind his back to become a double champion. He is still one of the best wrestlers in WWE and although fans are uncertain about his future, he is definitely up on the greatest of all-time list.