On this date in WWF history: Mark Henry joins the Nation of Domination

Though he was signed and first showed up on television in 1996, it took a while for Mark Henry to find his footing in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Vince McMahon gave him a monster 10 year deal, seeing great potential in the former Olympic powerlifter.

But throughout 1996 and 1997, he simply didn't catch on. He was athletic and talented and had the right look but he was just there. Nothing really stood out about him.

So what do you do with a wrestler like that? You stick him in a strong heel stable that is already over and only picking up steam, which is exactly what happened with Henry on this date in history (Jan. 12, 1998) on the final episode of Monday Night Raw before that year's Royal Rumble event.

Henry had been attacked by the Nation of Domination one week before and Ken Shamrock, who was feuding with The Rock over the Intercontinental championship at the time, made the save. So Henry teamed with "The World's Most Dangerous Man" against Rock and D'Lo Brown on the next episode of Raw and all was going swimmingly until Shammy tried to put the Ankle Lock on Rocky.

Henry proceeded to clothesline his partner and turn heel, joining the Nation in the process. Check it: