Mark Henry confirms AEW departure: ‘I am not gonna be renewing my deal’

“My contract with AEW is set to expire tomorrow, the 28th. And today, of course, is the 27th. So I wanted to address that matter. And Tony Khan said at the press conference that he was very happy and proud of what we did together. And I feel exactly the same way,” Henry said. “I appreciate everything that happened at AEW with Tony Khan and the Khan family. I had a great experience, and I do feel like that it’s time for me to take more time to handle TheMarkHenry.com and the Remarkable brand and focus that attention on what my next steps are. And I am not gonna be renewing my deal. And I think that, you know, it’s a mutual thing. If I can’t dedicate 100 percent of myself, then it’s only fair for both parties to end the relationship on a positive note. And, like I said, it’s been nothing but positive.”

Henry signed with AEW in 2021, working as a coach and as a member of the broadcast team. He also was part of AEW’s community outreach team at one point but had shifted his focus to being a “psychology coach” helping talent. Though he’s leaving AEW, he’s still willing to help wrestlers if they reach out to him.

“I’ve done my best to help as many people as I could,” Henry said. “There was still some things that I wanted to help with that I didn’t get to finish, but those people have my phone number and anytime that they need to call me, I’m available for them.”

Henry clarified that he isn’t leaving pro wrestling.

“I am not leaving pro wrestling,” he said. “What I’m saying is that I’m going to take some time to work on some projects and I’m going to come back again full force. Because that’s what I do.”

Before joining AEW, Henry had a backstage role in WWE. He’s a former World Heavyweight Champion for WWE and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018. The last match of his in-ring career also took place that year.