Mark Henry's "Silverback" Gimmick/Nickname

[zappafrank 0]

Am I the only person who didn't think "Oh my God, that's racist!!!" when the vignettes started airing?

 

When Henry referred to himself as a Silverback, I thought, "Makes sense. The Silverback is a huge, hulking beast of a beast, as is Henry. Both can be ferocious and imposing and dominating."

 

The vignettes and gimmick actually have made me mark for Mark (...) for the 1st time since '99 when he was teaming with D'Lo. I think anyone who immediately thought of the nickname as racist might have issues of his/her own.

[Steviekick 0]

The nickname could be considered racist, but I think they've been careful of the use of the word "silverback" to invoke the predator/monster side of it.

 

Maybe they mean silverback elephant?

[Perfection 0]

The nickname could be considered racist, but I think they've been careful of the use of the word "silverback" to invoke the predator/monster side of it.

 

Maybe they mean silverback elephant?

 

Well considering the word ho is now considered as bad as the N word in some circles (al sharpton for example), I'd guess its a safe bet that certain individuals would consider it racist/demeaning.

 

I get a chuckle out of jbl/cole repeatedly saying he is "the self proclaimed silverback"..an obvious attempt to keep criticism down.

[Downhome 0]

I think people need to loosen the fuck up.

 

*shrugs*

[ChrisMWaters 0]

A friend of mine suggested that if he is going to call himself that, he actually make the back of his ring attire silver.

[Nate 0]

i think there was a guy WWE had in OVW known as "Silverback" Ryan Reeves

[The Amazing Rando 0]

Yeah, it is not exactly being used in a demeaning sense. It's not like JBL is going "look at that big silverback gorilla go! he ain't a human, Cole! He's a big hulking silverback MONKEY!"

[evilhomer 0]

Well considering the word ho is now considered as bad as the N word in some circles (al sharpton for example), I'd guess its a safe bet that certain individuals would consider it racist/demeaning.

You can't say a damn thing without at least one oversensitive shit for brains being offended.

 

I think people need to loosen the fuck up.

 

*shrugs*

Amen.

[claydude14 0]

Henry's promo where he declared himself Silverback and King of the Smackdown jungle is probably my Promo of the Year.

[Black Lushus 0]

now let's see if he can NOT get hurt again...dude was showing some serious promise last year and then...ooops...

[cabbageboy 0]

I did find it a bit odd that a huge black man would call himself the Silverback and invoke comparisons to a gorilla. Why that gimmick of all things?

[Banter 0]

True story: we have an ABA team in Buffalo which was called the Rapids. The name was changed to the Silverbacks, complete with a logo of a silverback gorilla with a basketball. This logo offended some people so it was changed to a panther looking thing. Morale of the story is that people are indeed to sensitive.

[Maztinho 0]

I did find it a bit odd that a huge black man would call himself the Silverback and invoke comparisons to a gorilla. Why that gimmick of all things?

 

World's Strongest Man was wearing thin. Silverback Gorilla's are hella strong, maybe they are going to shuffle Marcus CorVon over and have them team, which I would mark for.

 

And what if Mark suggested the nickname himself?

[NoCalMike 0]

It's Prowrestling.....

[Guest christophemagnifique]

now let's see if he can NOT get hurt again...dude was showing some serious promise last year and then...ooops...

 

You're joking right?

 

If they were going to have an animal nickname for Henry, it should have been sloth or hippo or something. Henry could be the hippo and Kane could be the sloth.

 

Bowling shoe ugly.

[Black Lushus 0]

no...I'm not joking, actually.

 

[King Cucaracha 0]

I must have missed all that 'serious promise', all I remember is the same old Mark Henry is strong and he's gonna hurt people really slowly shtick he's been doing forever.

[PLAGIARISM! 0]

I'll say this, fair play to the guy. He's always been awful and comes back yet slower with each injury, but who the hell thought he'd manage to outlast his preposterous 10 year deal from 1996? Incredible.

[Sideburnious 0]

Well he left that deal, went to the world strongest man competition in 2002 and they resigned him I think.

And fuck all these people saying he's not a good worker. He was showing promise in his character. He's a big man, he's not supposed to be quick or a technical wrestler. He's just supposed to go in and beat the shit out of people. He was ten times more entertaining than people like Khali or Tyson Tomko. Shit, i'd even put him as better than snitsky. Definatly the best Super heavyweight the company had except for Big Show.

[Guest christophemagnifique]

Well he left that deal, went to the world strongest man competition in 2002 and they resigned him I think.

And fuck all these people saying he's not a good worker. He was showing promise in his character. He's a big man, he's not supposed to be quick or a technical wrestler. He's just supposed to go in and beat the shit out of people. He was ten times more entertaining than people like Khali or Tyson Tomko. Shit, i'd even put him as better than snitsky. Definatly the best Super heavyweight the company had except for Big Show.

 

Oh I wouldn't put him on the same level as the Great Khali, he's not that bad... and I have nothing against him - obviously it's a shame for the man to be on the shelf for so long.

 

Basically, though, the value of "big men" like Kane, Snitsky, Henry, Khali, Viscera etc is that there are too many of them. Then the WWE makes matches between them and expects the fans to give a damn about two really, really slow people doing the punch-kick routine. I'm not saying big men should wrestle technical matches (remember the Kane-Big Show chain wrestling on Raw), I'm saying there are too many big men and they're all mediocre. Apart from Khali, who is a total joke.

[hyperchord24 0]

If they're trying to get him over by having him call himself a silverback, it's nothing new.

[mysterious_w 0]

And fuck all these people saying he's not a good worker. He was showing promise in his character. He's a big man, he's not supposed to be quick or a technical wrestler. He's just supposed to go in and beat the shit out of people.

 

Vader can do that 10 times more effectively than Henry, and be more entertaining and be able to wrestle. Guys like him, Taker, Abyss etc. have showed that being big does not automatically exclude you from being able to wrestle. Plus his match at One Night Stand was really shit in every sense.

 

But, that was good promo last Smackdown. More time on the mic, more qucik intense run-ins, less actual matches if they have to use the guy.

[Steviekick 0]

Well he left that deal, went to the world strongest man competition in 2002 and they resigned him I think.

And fuck all these people saying he's not a good worker. He was showing promise in his character. He's a big man, he's not supposed to be quick or a technical wrestler. He's just supposed to go in and beat the shit out of people. He was ten times more entertaining than people like Khali or Tyson Tomko. Shit, i'd even put him as better than snitsky. Definatly the best Super heavyweight the company had except for Big Show.

 

 

Henry was given a leave of absence for the world strong man competition. He just resigned with the company last spring.

[2GOLD 0]

And fuck all these people saying he's not a good worker. He was showing promise in his character. He's a big man, he's not supposed to be quick or a technical wrestler. He's just supposed to go in and beat the shit out of people.

 

Vader can do that 10 times more effectively than Henry, and be more entertaining and be able to wrestle. Guys like him, Taker, Abyss etc. have showed that being big does not automatically exclude you from being able to wrestle. Plus his match at One Night Stand was really shit in every sense.

 

But, that was good promo last Smackdown. More time on the mic, more qucik intense run-ins, less actual matches if they have to use the guy.

 

Young Vader could. 2007 Vader can barely stand upright the last time we saw him. In his prime though, there were few people who would put a beat down like Vader.

 

Henry is what he is. Plus didn't the guy change his body size at one point and become a quicker wrestler only to be told by the WWE that he was too small and they didn't pay him to be fast?

[mysterious_w 0]

And fuck all these people saying he's not a good worker. He was showing promise in his character. He's a big man, he's not supposed to be quick or a technical wrestler. He's just supposed to go in and beat the shit out of people.

 

Vader can do that 10 times more effectively than Henry, and be more entertaining and be able to wrestle. Guys like him, Taker, Abyss etc. have showed that being big does not automatically exclude you from being able to wrestle. Plus his match at One Night Stand was really shit in every sense.

 

But, that was good promo last Smackdown. More time on the mic, more qucik intense run-ins, less actual matches if they have to use the guy.

 

Young Vader could. 2007 Vader can barely stand upright the last time we saw him. In his prime though, there were few people who would put a beat down like Vader.

 

Vader was still going strong in 2000 at the age of 43, Henry is 36 and surely has less wear and tear from the ring than Vader.

[MrRant 0]

Silverback is a bear isn't it? I know a Silvertip is too.

[veseo 0]

Silverback is a bear isn't it? I know a Silvertip is too.

 

From Thefreedictionary.com:

 

A mature male gorilla having silvery white hair across the back.

[Guest shoryuken007]

He was ten times more entertaining than people like Khali or Tyson Tomko. Shit, i'd even put him as better than snitsky.

Wow, that's some real high standards you're holding him up to.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Henry is what he is. Plus didn't the guy change his body size at one point and become a quicker wrestler only to be told by the WWE that he was too small and they didn't pay him to be fast?

 

Yeah, he got down to about 315, but was told to gain the weight again for the Strongman competition. Just picture this... he was working on how to do Frankensteiners in OVW and other fun stuff. I wish we got a chance to see that Mark Henry.

 

But the dude is a hell of an athlete for being a short, now overweight guy. It sucked that he's returned bigger than ever.

 

[Gary Floyd 0]

It's Prowrestling.....

Exactly, you guys are actually suprised by this?