What did AJ Styles text Mark Henry after his retirement angle? Exploring behind-the-scenes revelation

AJ Styles managed to fool everyone, especially Cody Rhodes, by faking his retirement on WWE SmackDown. He also texted Mark Henry, who did something similar over a decade ago.

On last week's episode of WWE SmackDown, AJ Styles asked the blue brand's GM, Nick Aldis, to let him share a moment with his fans. During the episode, he interacted with stars like Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, and LA Knight, who showed him respect before his supposed retirement speech.

After an emotional speech, The Phenomenal One called out Rhodes to seemingly 'pass the torch'. But, to everyone's surprise, he ended up assaulting the Undisputed WWE Champion, ensuring their rivalry's renewal.

After the segment, AJ Styles texted Mark Henry, who pulled off a similar stunt involving John Cena in 2013. Styles texted the veteran, stating "Man, I hope I made you proud."

While talking to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select, Mark Henry revealed that the message had his eyes well up. It was great to see the wrestling veteran take the recreation positively. He also praised the segment via his social media handles.

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What did Mark Henry say about AJ Styles faking a retirement?

While it is no secret that Mark Henry is proud of how the former WWE Champion recreated his iconic segment, he is also good at noticing key details.

Speaking on the Busted Open podcast, Henry acknowledged how Styles and Rhodes did a wonderful recreation of his decade-old segment with John Cena. He was very impressed at how the two WWE Superstars paid homage to him by replicating several actions and postures during the 'retirement' segment.

"I know both of those guys. They thought about it and said 'Let's do it like Mark did it'. They did the exact same posturing. Even to the point, after the clothesline and the beatdown, he did the same posturing of standing over him just like I did," said Henry.

It must have felt wonderful to be AJ Styles or Cody Rhodes when the Hall of Famer himself appreciated their effort to recreate greatness. Professional wrestling never disappoints when it comes to the recreation of iconic moments.