Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion suddenly announces departure

Hot on the heels of an eventful Double or Nothing pay-per-view last night, former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry has announced he's leaving AEW. He also spoke about his future plans.

Almost three years ago, The World's Strongest Man made his All Elite Wrestling debut at Double or Nothing. Mark Henry joined the company as a backstage analyst on Rampage and took up a coaching role.

He even worked as a commentator briefly on the Friday Night show. Not too long ago, rumors surfaced that his contract was set to expire this month.

Speaking on the Busted Open podcast, Henry addressed his status and announced that he was leaving All Elite Wrestling tomorrow. The WWE Hall of Famer expressed his gratitude to Tony Khan for his time with the Jacksonville-based promotion.

“My contract with AEW is set to expire tomorrow, the 28th, and today, of course, is 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 the exactly same way. I appreciate everything that happened at AEW with Tony Khan and the Khan family. I had a great experience and I do feel like 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’m not going to be renewing my deal," Henry said.

Check out the full clip below.

---

WWE legend Mark Henry reveals if he's leaving pro wrestling

Mark Henry said his decision to leave All Elite Wrestling was a mutual thing.

The WWE Hall of Famer added that he would like to take some time off from pro wrestling to focus on his external projects. However, Henry mentioned that he would come back in the future.

"It’s a mutual thing. If I can’t dedicate 100% of myself, then it’s only fair for both parties to end the relationship on a positive note. Like I said, it’s been nothing but positive. I’ve done my best to help as many people as I could. There are 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. I am not leaving pro wrestling. 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 in full force because that’s what I do."

It will be interesting to see whether another WWE run is in the cards for Mark Henry.

---

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Busted Open and add an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.