Shreveport's comic con Geek'd Con is back this August with a stacked lineup of stars, but wrestling fans should be hyped to see three former world champions at this year's show. Hall of Famers Mark Henry and Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake will be joined by former 5x world champion Lisa Marie Varon, formerly known as Victoria. For newer wrestling fans you probably know these names but there's a chance you're not all too caught up on who these champs are, so let's fix that.

Mark Henry "World's Strongest Man"

Mark Henry is known by his nickname, the "World's Strongest Man" which he earned originally as the "World's Strongest Teenager" during his early powerlifting years by setting world records in the sport of powerlifting. Mark Henry competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics and would go on to take part in the 1996 Summer Olympics but suffered a back injury leaving him unable to finish the competition. Henry would retire from weightlifting after this injury stating his reason being the abundance of anabolic steroid use. The World Wrestling Federation, now World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), caught wind of Mark Henry and brought him on for an appearance in 1996 on Monday Night Raw, and after his injury at the Summer Olympics that year he signed a contract with WWE where his storied career began.

Henry joined the Nation of Domination, with wrestlers like D-Lo Brown and The Rock, up until the split-up of the Nation of Domination. After the Nation of Domination fell apart Henry donned his new nickname "Sexual Chocolate" while taking on the attitude of a lady killer and there's quite a bit that happened with this character arc. During this time MArk Henry became the WWF European Champion by Jeff Jarrett after turning on his former partner D-Lo Brown, Mark Henry's first pro wrestling championship. Most memorably for the Sexual Chocolate character, Henry would be seen on television making out with veteran wrestler Mae Young, who would later become pregnant and give birth to... a hand...

Henry's career in the WWE would be put on halt around this time as he left to train and hone his wrestling skills at Ohio Valley Wrestling. In 2002 Henry would return to WWE as a member of the Smackdown roster, building himself as a formidable and unforgiving opponent. In 2006 WWE launched a new show under the ECW branding, where Henry would eventually be drafted. In 2008 Henry defeated Kane and Big Show in a three-way match for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, making him WWE's fourth African-American world champion. Henry lost the championship to Matt Hardy at 2008's Unforgiven show. Mark Henry went on to win the World Heavyweight Champion in 2011 at the Night of Champions show, beating Randy Orton in a classic match. Henry would drop the belt to CM Punk in April of that year. Henry went on to have an incredibly memorable feud with John Cena in which he faked his retirement to get an easy opportunity to attack Cena.

Henry retired officially in 2017 and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame just a year later.

Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake

Brutus Beefcake began his wrestling career in 1977 wrestling in different territories up until 1984 when he signed on with the WWE. Early on he was introduced in a vignette introducing the character as a male striper. He made his proper debut in August of 1984 going on to work with Johnny Valiant as his manager. Beefcake would catch the ire of one WWE Champion, Hulk Hogan when Beefcake and Valiant assaulted Hogan's protege Hillbilly Jim. As a part of The Dream Team with Valiant, they would win the WWE World Tag Team Championship, holding them for 8 months before dropping the belts to the British Bulldogs. Hogan and Beefcake would go on to later become allies and tag partners. Going on to 1987 Beefcake would adorn the name of "The Barber" after assisting Roddy Piper against Adrian Adonis in a hair-vs-hair match. After Piper defeated Adonis, Beefcake took the opportunity to shave his head earning himself the title.

Beefcake went on to fight The Honky Tonk Man for this Intercontinental Championship, swearing that the would win the belt and cut Honky Tonk's hair. This feud would not end in Beefcake's favor as Honky Tonk would disqualify himself from each of their matches as a title cannot change hands under a disqualification. Beefcake continued to wrestle up until July of 1990 when Beefcake found himself injured due to a parasailing accident that heavily injured his face, leaving him unable to compete for over two years. The Barber would eventually return to the world of pro-wrestling in a host position hosting the infamous barber shop segment where The Rockers split up.

Brutus would wrestle a few more times before leaving the WWE to later sign with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1994 where he donned the name of "The Butcher." The Butcher would go on to begin a rivalry with WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan, but he would fail to beat Hogan for his title belt.

Brutus Beefcake was introduced as a member of WWE's Hall of Fame class of 2019.

Lisa Marie "Victoria" Varon

Lisa Marie Varon began her athletic career in bodybuilding, competing in many competitions before becoming friends with Torrie Wilson, a fellow bodybuilder who signed a contract with World Championship Wrestling in 1999. During Wilson's tenure with WCW, she would try and get a contract for Lisa Marie Varon but would never manage to materialize a deal for her friend. Varon moved to Los Angeles where she met WWE wrestler Chyna who befriended Varon and encouraged her to begin a career in pro wrestling. Varon sent WWE her details and resume. Two days after sending the package she received a call scheduling an interview a month from then. In that month she found Ultimate Pro Wrestling who were willing to train her through June of 2000. Her debut in WWE would be accompanying The Godfather up until his turn on her when he would powerbomb Varon through a table. After her stint with The Godfather came to a close she began training further at Power Pro Wrestling.

Varon returned to WWE in 2002 igniting a feud with fellow former bodybuilder Trish Stratus, culminating in a win over Trish for the WWE Women's Championship. Victoria held the belt for four months until that year's Wrestlemania, losing the belt to Trish Stratus. In 2004 Victoria won a four-way match to earn her second Women's Championship, only holding the belt for a month when she would lose it back to Stratus at that year's Wrestlemania. Victoria would continue to wrestle in the WWE, never making her way back into the title picture. Varon was granted her release from her contract in 2009, wrestling her last contracted match on the January 16th, 2009 edition of SmackDown.

In May of 2009, Varon was signed to a contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), debuting later that same month under the ring name Tara. Tara went on to win the TNA Knockouts Championship, TNA's women's championship, in July of the same year. Tara would become a fan favorite during her time in TNA winning the Knockout's Championship 5 times as well as the Knockouts Tag Team Championship once. In 2013 her contract with TNA expired and Varon declared that she would never return to the promotion.

After her run with TNA came to an end she continued to wrestle for many independent wrestling promotions until announcing in 2019 that her full-time wrestling career would end that year. Since then she has made appearances at WWE and TNA.