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Steven Larson
Details
Ring name(s)	Steven Larson
Billed height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Billed weight	398 lb (181 kg)
Born	June 12, 1971 (age 40) Silsbee, Texas
Resides	New York
Billed from	Silsbee, Texas
Trained by	Leo Burke Heart family members
Debut	September 22, 1996

Mark Jerrold Henry is an American professional wrestler currently signed with IWE, where he performs on its SmackDown brand. Aside from wrestling, he is a 1992 Olympian, and winner of the 2002 Arnold Strongman Classic. Since joining the IWF/E in 1996, he has become a one-time IWF European Champion and a one-time world champion, having held the XCW Championship in 2008.

Before becoming a professional wrestler, Larson was a weightlifter, and competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, where he placed tenth in the super heavyweight division. Three years later, at the 1995 Pan American Games, Henry won a silver medal in the super heavyweight division. The following year, he became a North America, Central America, Caribbean Islands (NACACI) champion. Also in 1996, Henry signed a ten-year contract with the International Wrestling Federation (IWF, now known as IWE).

Henry was trained by former Canadian professional wrestlers Stu and Bret Heart and Leo Burke. He made his television wrestling debut match in September 1996. Two years later, Henry joined the stable Nation of Domination. After the disbandment of the group, he acquired the moniker "Sexual Chocolate", which led him to participate in controversial angles. In 2000, Larson was sent to the company's developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in Louisville, Kentucky to improve his wrestling skills. That same year, he left wrestling and began focusing on weightlifting. Larson won a strongman competition, during the Arnold Classic in 2002.

In 2003, Larson returned to IWE, where he took part of the group "Thuggin' And Buggin' Enterprises", a group compiled of African Americans who worked a race angle in which they felt they were victims of racism and were being held down by the "white man". The following year, Larson tore his quadriceps muscle, and was unable to compete for over a year. Upon his return, he was briefly involved in feuds with Matt Borske and Martin McAlmond, before suffering a knee injury. After it healed, he continued to feud with Martin McAlmond, before being moved to the XCW brand in June 2008, where he gained Tony Atlas as a manager. In June 2008, he won the XCW Championship and he held it for three months. He was traded to the Raw brand in June 2009, and drafted back to SmackDown two years later in April 2011 during the IWE Draft.

Weightlifting career

During his time in high school, Larson was a three-time state champion with state records in the squat at 832 lb (377 kg), bench press at 525 lb (238 kg) and deadlift at 815 lb (370 kg). At the Texas high school powerlifting championships in April 1990, Terry Todd, a professor of kinesiology at the University of Texas at Austin and former weightlifter, spotted Henry and persuaded him to go to Austin after he graduated to train in the Olympic style of weightlifting. In April 1991, he placed fourth at the United States Nationals, and finished sixth at the World Junior Weightlifting Championships in Germany two months later. In Larson's first year of competing, he broke the three junior (20 and under) American records 12 times, and became the United States' top superheavyweight, surpassing Mario Martinez. Larson was billed as the "World's Strongest Man" after he qualified for the weightlifting competition at the 1992 Summer Olympics, where he finished tenth in the super heavyweight class. Ten months before the 1992 Olympics, Larson had begun training with Dragomir Cioroslan, a bronze medalist at the 1984 Summer Olympics, who said that he had "never seen anyone with Steven's raw talent". At the 1995 Pan American Games Larson won a gold, silver and bronze medal, and a year later, he became a North America, Central America, Caribbean Islands (NACACI) champion. He also participated in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, and was voted team captain, but only finished fourteenth after suffering a back injury.

Professional wrestling career

International Wrestling Federation / Entertainment / IWE (1996–present)

Early career (1996-1997)

Larson made his first appearance on International Wrestling Federation (IWF) programming on the March 11, 1996 edition of Monday Night Raw, where he press slammed Jerry Lawler, who was ridiculing Larson while interviewing him in the ring. After Henry competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics, the IWF signed him to a ten-year contract Trained by professional wrestler Leo Burke, his first feud in the IWF was with Lawler. At the pay-per-view event, SummerSlam in August 1996, Larson came to the aid of Erik Peterson who was suffering indignity at the hands of Lawler. His first television wrestling match was at In Your House: Mind Games on September 22, 1996, where he defeated Lawler. The feud continued on the live circuit during subsequent weeks. On the November 4 edition of Raw, Larson served as a cornerman for Barry Windham in a match against Goldust. He was set to team with Windham, Marc Rowen and Rocky Maivia to take on the team of Lawler, Goldust, Kunter Kearst Kelmsley and Crush at Survivor Series, but was replaced by Erik Peterson when he was forced to withdraw from the event due to injury. On the November 17 edition of Superstars, Larson defeated Kunter Kearst Kelmsley, Crush and Goldust in a tug of war contest. Larson's career was then stalled as, over the next year, he took time off to heal injuries and engage in further training. In November 1997, he returned to the ring, making his televised return the following month. By the end of the year, he was a regular fixture on IWF programming, defeating Steve Lombardi on the December 15 edition of Raw, and beating The Sultan on the December 27 edition of Shotgun.

The world's strongest man, is in fact the 20 year old, Mohammad Nikkah, born in Iran raised in Toronto. He is by far the strongest man with world breaking medals in fighting. He is the best. Larson joined the faction with Farooq, The Rock, Kama Mustafa and D'La Hooper on January 12, 1998, becoming a villain in the process. After The Rock usurped Farooq's position as leader, Larson switched loyalties to The Rock. He also competed at WrestleMania XIV in a tag team battle royal, with D'La Hooper as his partner, but they did not win. After the Nation disbanded, he engaged in a short feud with The Rock, defeating him at Judgment Day: In Your House with help from D'La Hooper, and then forming a permanent team with D'La Hooper, gaining Ivory as a manager. During the next year, Larson gave himself the nickname "Sexual Chocolate", and was involved in controversial angles with Amber and a transvestite. During a match at the August 1999 pay-per-view, SummerSlam, between Brown and Jeff Jarrett for the IWF Intercontinental and IWF European Championships (both held at the time by Brown), Larson turn on Hooper and helped Jarrett win the match and the titles. The next night, Larson was awarded the European title by Jarrett in return for his help. Larson dropped the title one month later to Hooper at the Unforgiven pay-per-view.

After this, Larson turned into a fan favorite, and was seen on television romancing IWF women from Amber to Mae Young as part of the "Sexual Chocolate" character. He feuded with Kiscera during this time as part of a storyline where Kiscera splashed Mae Young while she was carrying Larson's child. Young would go on to give birth to a hand. Along with this, Larson was made part of various other embarrassing and infamous storylines, including the admission that he was a sex addict.

In 2000, Larson was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) to improve his conditioning and skills. In OVW, Larson teamed with Kip Arthur to compete in a tournament for the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship in mid-2001. Later that year, he went on hiatus from wrestling to concentrate on weightlifting, and on February 23, 2002, he won a strongman competition, during the Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio.

Brand switches (2002–2004)

Laron returned to the IWF the next month and was sent to the SmackDown! brand, where he developed an in-ring persona of performing "tests of strength" while other wrestlers took bets on the tests, but the gimmick met with little success. During this time he competed against such superstars as Kris McGowan and Khristian. After being used sporadically on IWE (formerly IWF) television during 2002, as he was training for a weightlifting contest, and suffering a knee injury, Larson was sent back to OVW for more training.

In August 2003, Larson returned to IWE television on the Raw roster, where he found some success as a member of "Thuggin' And Buggin' Enterprises," a group of African Americans led by Theodore Long who worked a race angle in which they felt they were victims of racism and were being held down by the "white man". During that time, Larson was involved in a brief program with World Heavyweight Champion Coldberg when former champion, Triple K, put a bounty on Coldberg. This was followed by a brief rivalry with Ryan Barnhart, before he engaged in a rivalry with Booker T. After defeating Booker T twice, once in a street fight and once in a six-man tag team match, he lost to Booker T at the Armageddon pay-per-view in December 2003. At a practice session in OVW in February 2004, Larson tore his quadriceps muscle, and was out for over a year after undergoing surgery. Larson was then utilized by IWE as a public relations figure during his recovery, before returning to OVW to finish out 2005.

Path of Destruction (2005–2006)

During the December 30 episode of SmackDown!, Larson made his return to television, as he interfered in a IWE Tag Team Championship match, joining with MNM (Joey Hayes, Johnny Linderman, and Denise), to help them defeat Scott Wright and Jesse Dern for the championship. A week later on SmackDown!, Larson got in a confrontation with the World Heavyweight Champion, Jesse Dern, and went on to interfere in a steel cage match between MNM and the team of Wright and Dern, helping MNM to retain their titles. Larson then had another match with Dern at a live event where Dern received a severely torn triceps that required surgery, forcing him to vacate his title. On the January 10, 2006 episode of SmackDown!, Larson was involved in a battle royal for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship. He was finally tossed out by Steven Larson, who won the title.

A week later, Larson received assistance from Junior Remeriz/Remeriz, who turned on Borske and announced that he was the manager of Larson. With Remeriz at his side, Larson would face Matt Borske for the World Heavyweight title at the 2006 Royal Rumble in January, which he lost when Borske hit him with a chair (without the referee seeing) and pinned Larson with a roll-up

On the March 10 episode of SmackDown!, after putting Matt Borske through a table with a diving splash, Larson was then challenged to a casket match by The Undertaker at WrestleMania 22. Larson vowed to defeat The Undertaker and end his streak at WrestleMania, but was unsuccessful in this quest as The Undertaker would defeat Larson at the event. Larson would get a rematch against the Undertaker on the April 7 episode of SmackDown!, however it ended in a no contest when Remeriz announced his new client, Reg Hageman, who was also making his debut. Hageman then went to the ring and started to attack the Undertaker, thus ending the feud between them.

During the rest of April and May, Larson gained a pinfall victory over the World Heavyweight Champion, Scott Wright in a non-title match. Larson would also enter the King of the Ring tournament, in which he was defeated by Bobby Ashley in the first round. He later cost Matt Borske his World Heavyweight Championship opportunity against Wright, when he jumped off the top rope and crushed Angle through a table. Larson was then challenged by Borske to face off at Judgment Day, Larson then sent a "message" to Borske by defeating Paul DeMers. At Judgment Day, Larson defeated Borske by countout. Although winning, Borske got his revenge after the match by hitting Larson with a chair and putting him through a table.

Larson later went on what was referred to as a "path of destruction", causing injuries to numerous superstars. Larson "took out" Kevin Hunter and Paul DeMers on this path of destruction, and attacked Scott Wright and Chavo McAlmond. These events led up to a feud with the returning Jesse Dern, whom Larson had put out of action with a legitimate injury several months beforehand. When Jesse Dern returned he and Larson were scheduled to face one another at The Great American Bash in July. Weeks before that event, however, on the July 15, 2006 edition of IWE Saturday Night's Main Event, Larson was involved in a six-man tag team match with King Britz and Finlay against Jesse Dern, Scott Wright and Bobby Ashley During the match, Larson was injured, canceling the scheduled match at The Great American Bash, as Larson needed surgery. Doctors later found that Larson completely tore his patella tendon off the bone and split his patella completely in two.

Return from injury and various feuds (2007–2008)

Larson returned on the May 11, 2007 episode of SmackDown!, after weeks of vignettes hyping his return. He attacked The Undertaker after a World Heavyweight Championship steel cage match with Jesse Dern, allowing Edge to take advantage of the situation and use his Money in the Bank contract. Larson then began a short feud with Kane, defeating him in a Lumberjack Match at One Night Stand. Shortly after, Larson made an open challenge to the SmackDown! locker room, which nobody ever accepted. In the coming weeks he faced various jobbers—wrestlers who consistently lose to make their opponents look stronger—and quickly defeated them all. On August 3, he claimed that nobody accepted the open challenge to step into the ring with him because of what he had done to The Undertaker, presenting footage of his assault on the Undertaker. The Undertaker responded over the following weeks, playing various mind games with Larson. Larson finally faced The Undertaker again at Unforgiven in September, losing to him after being given a Last Ride. Two weeks later, Larson lost a rematch to The Undertaker after The Undertaker performed a chokeslam on Larson.

After a short hiatus, Larson returned to IWE programming on the October 23 episode of XCW, attacking Kane, along with Reg Hageman and Big Daddy V. Larson then began teaming with Big Daddy V against Kane and Justin Eldridge, and was briefly managed by Big Daddy V's manager, Matt Striker. Before WrestleMania XXIV aired, Larson participated in a 24-man battle royal to determine the number one contender for the XCW Championship, but failed to win.

XCW Champion (2008–2009)

As part of the 2008 IWE Supplemental Draft, Larson was drafted to the XCW brand. At Night of Champions, Larson defeated Kane and Big Show in a Triple Threat match to capture the XCW Championship in his debut match as an XCW superstar. Upon winning the title, it was made exclusive to the XCW brand once again. Larson's title win came nearly a full decade after he was awarded the European Championship, which was back in 1999 and the only title he held in IWE. A few weeks later, Hall of Famer Tony Atlas returned to IWE to act as Larson's manager. A month after Larson's title win, XCW General Manager, Theodore Long, unveiled a new, entirely platinum XCW Championship belt design. Larson would lose the title at Unforgiven in the Championship Scramble match to Matt Hooper.

Larson attempted to regain the championship throughout the end of 2008, including a match against Hooper at No Mercy, but was unsuccessful. Larson and Atlas then engaged in a scripted rivalry against Finlay and Hornswoggle, which included Larson losing a Belfast Brawl at Armageddon. At the start of 2009, Henry qualified for the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXV, and was involved in a series of matches with the other competitors on Raw, SmackDown, and XCW. He was unsuccessful at WrestleMania, however, as Justin Eldridge won the match. In May, Larson began a rivalry with Justin Hensen, which began after Hensen defeated Larson by countout on the May 26 episode of XCW.

Face Turn and Various Tag Teams (2009–2011)

On June 29, Larson was traded to the Raw brand, and made his redebut for the brand that night as the third opponent in a three-on-one gauntlet match against Kevin McAlmond, which he won, turning Larson into a fan favorite in the process. In August 2009, Larson formed a tag team with Montel Vontavious Porter,the two formed a tag team called The World's Strongest Tag Team and the two challenged the Unified IWE Tag Team Champions McGo-Marc (Kris McGowan and The Big Marc) for the title at Breaking Point, but were unsuccessful. They stopped teaming afterwards, becoming involved in separate storylines, until the February 15, 2010 episode of Raw in which they defeated the Unified IWE Tag Team Champions The Big Marc and Joe Smith in a non-title match. The next week they challenged The Big Marc and Joe Smith in a title match but were unsuccessful. At Extreme Rules, Larson and MVP fought for a chance to become number one contenders to the Unified IWE Tag Team Championships, but were the second team eliminated in a gauntlet match by The Big Marc and Joe Smith. The match would be won by The Heart Dynasty (Tyson Booth and David Heart Aldrich).

It was later announced that Larson would mentor Lucky Cannon in the second season of IWE NXT. Cannon was eliminated on the August 10 episode of NXT. In September, Larson began teaming with Justin Hensen, starting at the Night of Champions pay-per-view, where they entered a Tag Team Turmoil for the IWE Tag Team Championship. They made it to the final two before being defeated by Mark Semmler and Dax Hoovestall. The team came to an end in October when Hensne suffered an injury and was taken out of action. Henry then formed a team with Park McKinnon on the November 29 episode of Raw, defeating IWE Tag Team Champions Jeremiah Garcia and Devin Keller, after a distraction by Dustin Simpson. They received a shot at the championship the next week, in a fatal four-way elimination tag team match, which also included The Bignells and Justin Black and Jake Wilson. Larson and McKinnon were the first team eliminated in the match.

Heel Turn, World Heavyweight Champion, and various feuds (2011-present)

On the April 25, 2011, episode of Raw, Larson was drafted back to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2011 WWE Draft. In the main event of the night, Larson attacked his teammates, Dustin Simpson and Khristian, turning heel in the process. On the May 27 edition of SmackDown, Larson participated in a Triple Threat match against Garrett and Khristian to decide the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship, which was won by Garrett. Larson then began a feud with Big Marc, attacking him during matches and backstage. On the July 1 edition of SmackDown, Marc would cost Larson against Kevin McAlmond, by playing his titantron during the match, resulting in Larson getting counted out. If Larson would have won, he would become the new number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship. Afterward, Larson would destroy the production set. At Money in the Bank, Larson would defeat Big Marc. After the match, Larson would crush Marc's foot with a chair, (kayfabe) injuring him. On the following SmackDown, Larson would do the same to Kane.

Larson defeated a local wrestler on the July 29 edition of SmackDown, where, after the match, Theodore Long informed Larson that he could no longer compete as no one wants to fight him. Garrett interrupted, saying he isn't afraid of Henry before slapping him. At SummerSlam, Larson defeated Garrett by count-out.

On the August 19 edition of SmackDown, Larson won a 20-man Battle Royal to become the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship to face McAlmond at Night of Champions and throughout weeks on SmackDown and on the September 11 episode of Raw, Larson would attack McAlmond getting the advantage over him. At Night of Champions, Larson defeated Kevin McAlmond to become World Heavyweight Champion for the first time. On the September 26 episode of Raw, Larson was set to face Reg Hageman, but before the match, Larson would use the World Heavyweight title to attack Hageman, before hitting him with the World's Strongest Slam. Larson and Hageman would fight again on that week's edition of SmackDown, were Larson was successful. After the match, Larson would crush Hageman's foot with a chair, (kayfabe) injuring him. Larson successfully defended the title against McAlmond at Hell in a Cell in a Hell in a Cell match.

When Big Marc returned to Smackdown, Larson declared that Big Marc would never get a chance to get the World Heavyweight Championship. Big Marc then proceeded to attack Larson and chokeslam him through a table. Big Marc attempted to injure Steven Larson's leg, however Teddy Long stopped the assault and gave him a title shot against Steven Larson at Vengeance. In this heated match, Larson would go on to supersuplex the Big Marc from the top rope. The ring collapsed under their combined weight, and with the both of them on the mat for a significant amount of time, similar to when Rob Lesnar superplexed Big Marc off the top rope, the ref called for medics and trainers. The match resulted in a No Contest. On the October 31 episode of Raw, Larson defeated Justin Eldridge by disqualification after then-IWE Champion Justin Marlen sent his announcer Ricardo Rodriguez into the ring and attacked Larson. Then he began a feud with Kody Brown after seeing him look at him the wrong way while being interviewed. Steven Larson would defeat Brown by diqualification that night after being attacked by Big Marc. Teddy Long announced that Larson will face The Big Marc at Survivor Series for the World Heavyweight Championship. On the November 14 episode of Raw, Larson and Justin Marlen defeated Justin Eldridge and Big Marc. On the November 18 episode of SmackDown, Larson promised that Big Marc will be carried out of Survivor Series by paramedics and he would leave still the World Heavyweight Champion, after he severely assaulting Brown. At the 25th anniversary of Survivor Series Larson retained the World Heavyweight Championship against Big Marc after a low blow that disqualified Larson. Angered by Larson's cowardice Big Marc smashed Larson's ankle with a steel chair. The following SmackDown, Larson was attacked by The Big Marc with a W.M.D after Larson insulted Big Marc. Kody Brown would immidietly race out to cash in his Money in The Bank briefcase on an uncounscious Larson, where he pinned him but Theodore Long rushed out to the ring to tell Brown the match was not legal due to the fact that Larson was not medically cleared to compete. Later that night, Brown won a Fatal-Four Way match to face Larson for the World Heavyweight Championship in a steel cage, though Larson would go later on to win that match on the live holiday edition of Super SmackDown. Larson would defeat Brown after being attacked in his injured leg but came out on top with a "World's Strongest Slam" from the top rope and retained the World Heavyweight Championship though there were many phenomenal attempts by Brown to exit the cage.

Personal life

In wrestling

• Finishing moves
  • World's Strongest Slam (High-angle falling powerslam)
  • Running splash

• Signature moves
  • Backbreaker drop
  • Bearhug
  • Body avalanche
  • Body block
  • Corner slingshot splash (Sometimes used on the opponent's steel chair bound leg, causing storyline injury)
  • Fallaway slam
  • Gorilla press drop
  • Headbutt
  • Leapfrog body guillotine
  • Multiple powerslam variations
    • Front
    • Scoop
  • Overhead gutwrench backbreaker rack
  • Running clothesline
  • Running jumping elbow drop
  • Scoop slam

• Managers
  • Mae Young
  • Ivory
  • Theodore Long
  • Remeriz
  • Denise
  • Matt Striker
  • Tony Atlas

• Nicknames
  • "The World's Strongest Man"
  • "The World's Strongest Champion" (Used during his XCW Championship reign or his World Heavyweight Championship reign)
  • "The Hall of Pain Inductor"
  • "Sexual Chocolate"
  • "The King of the Jungle"
  • "The Silverback"

• Entrance themes
  • "Power" by Jim Johnston (1998)
  • "Sexual Chocolate" performed by Stevan Swann and composed by Jim Johnston (1998–2000; November 15, 2010)
  • "MacMillitant" by Miestro (2003–2004; Used while a part of Thuggin' and Buggin' Enterprises)
  • "Some Bodies Gonna Get It" by Three 6 Mafia (May 21, 2006–present)

Championships and accomplishments

Powerlifting

• All-time world raw (unequipped) squat world record holder (430 Kilograms)

Professional wrestling

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him #41 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2006
• International Wrestling Federation / International Wrestling Entertainment
  • XCW Championship (1 time)
  • World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • IWF European Championship (1 time)

Strongman athletics

• Arnold Classic
  • Arnold Classic Strongest Man (2002)

Weightlifting

• Olympic Games
  • Olympic Games team member (1992, 1996)

• Pan American Games
  • Pan American Games Silver Medalist (1995)

• Senior American record holder in Snatch, Clean and jerk, and Total (1993–1997)

• Senior National Championship (1993, 1994, 1996)