When AJ Styles walked down to the ring on SmackDown wearing a blue suit and a sullen look on his face, it seemed like the “Phenomenal One” was going to do one of two things: either announce his retirement or pull a Mark Henry and pretend to announce his retirement in order to get one over on Cody Rhodes in order to skip the line and become the new number one contender for the WWE Championship.

Well, as it turned out, it was firmly the latter, and no one was more excited about that fact than “The World's Strongest Man,” who, on Busted Open Radio, celebrated Styles for taking a page out of his playbook in order to get himself over, noting that he appreciated the homage and for helping to get both men trending on social media as a result.

“Mr. AJ Styles donned a blue jacket, and shook up the world. You talk about a historical moment. He trended. Not only did AJ Styles trend, but yours truly. I'm back. Of course, I never left. The fans know me. They understand what it is. I made retirements cool. Everyone that has ever retired since, they say, ‘He's going to do a Mark Henry.' When you coin a phrase, it's pretty damn cool. Now, AJ Styles, as unbelievable of a job as he did, I'm going to have to get out the pink jacket, he'll have to get the powder blue jacket, and we'll have to do signings together. We have to get the in-person moment,” Mark Henry explained on Busted Open Radio via Fightful.

“I know both of those guys. They thought about it and said, ‘Let's do it like Mark did it.' They did the same exact posturing. Even to the point, after the clothesline and beatdown, he did the same posturing of standing over him just like I did. When they went outside to the floor, all bets were off, they did a great job. The execution of it, the camera angles that they took was incredible.”

Did Henry actually enjoy Styles' homage? Or does it simply benefit him to say so and put the segment over, as it does highlight his own segment from a decade earlier that has continued to resonate in professional wrestling to this day? Either way, it's safe to say “The World's Strongest Man” appreciates the efforts and getting his name out there, especially now that he's a free agent on the lookout for what's next in his professional wrestling career.

Mark Henry reflects on his exit from AEW.

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Speaking of Mark Henry's exit from AEW, “The World's Strongest Man” revealed why he won't be working with Tony Khan moving forward on Busted Open Radio, explaining that while he enjoyed his time in TK's promotion, he wants to turn his attention to other opportunities in the business.

“Well, Dave, you know my impending contract status has reached an end. My contract with AEW is set to expire tomorrow, the 28th. I wanted to address that matter. Tony Khan said at the press conference that he was very happy and proud of what we did together, and I feel the exact same way,” Mark Henry explained on Busted Open Radio via Fightful.

“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. 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’ve 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.”

What does the future hold for Henry in professional wrestling? Could he return to WWE and fill a similar role to his time in AEW? Or will he instead take the occasional indie bookings as he continues to work on Busted Open Radio, all the while still contributing to the story of professional wrestling? Fans will soon find out.