WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry has come under fire for comments he made regarding the incident that occurred at the KnokX Pro event last weekend that saw MMA fighter Raja Jackson's assault on indie wrestler Syko Stu Smith.
Henry spoke to TMZ following the incident and suggested that Smith shared in some of the blame for the pre-match angle where Smith slammed a can/bottle on Jackson's head as he felt that incited Jackson.
"You’ve got to be careful, one, who you’re messing with. And, two, what kind of example are you as a veteran for inciting a riot with a kid?"
"If indeed what I saw was what I saw, which is people before the show, during the day time, drinking and intoxicated or partially intoxicated. And you bust a bottle over a guy’s head and talk trash like that guy was not going to do nothing, yeah, you’re at fault."
In the aftermath of his comments, Henry was criticized for his comments with some people going so far as to suggest that his not fully blaming Jackson was racially motivated (Jackson is black, Smith is white) but the veteran wrestler didn't apologize for his words and doubled down on his podcast:
"I did say that what happened was excessive with the young man, Raja Jackson, and that whole thing was a mistake. What I said has nothing to do with race. It has everything to do with ignorance about the wrestling business. And I don’t expect everybody to understand how organized pro wrestling has been for the last 100 years, because it’s been kept a secret. I don’t like to see anybody get hurt in the wrestling business, and I feel sorry for the guy. Syko didn’t deserve what he got. But every action has a reaction, and there’s consequences for everything that you put out in this universe."
"I have not got one racist bone in my body. I love people. God put me on this earth to be a helper and to be a watcher. I just want to go on record as saying I’m making zero apologies for what I said. I meant every word, every single word I meant. You have to be responsible on both sides. The WWE is where they are because they do great business, because they smarten everybody up. And when people go off-script, they get fined, they get suspended, they get sent away. Until you know better, you can’t be on our program. And I don’t work for them, I just respect the business. So all of you fans out there that have these racist tendencies and all the vitriol for me, have at it. You can’t hurt me. I’m bulletproof."
