Aaron Henare (born 1993) is a New Zealander professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) under the ring name Toa Henare (トーア・ヘナーレ Tōa Henāre).
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Early life[edit | edit source]
Henry was born in Auckland, New Zealand, and competed in both amateur wrestling and mixed martial arts prior to becoming a professional wrestler.[4] He is of Cook Islander/Māori descent with Ngāpuhi and Ngāi Takoto links.[6]
Professional wrestling career[edit | edit source]
Early Career (2010-2016)[edit | edit source]
In 2013, Henry made his professional wrestling debut for the Impact Pro Wrestling, competing in a battle royal to determine the 1º Contendership to the IPW New Zealand Heavyweight Championship, eventually losing the match. Later that night, Henry took part in a tag team gauntlet match for the IPW New Zealand Tag Team Championship with Pat Schisk, losing the match.
Following that night, Henry and Jakob Cross the vacant IPW New Zealand Tag Team Championship and the 2014 Armageddon Cup. In his last appearances for Impact Pro Wrestling, Henry unsuccessfullyd challenge Cross IPW New Zealand Heavyweight Championship.
Later in 2016, Henry would be signed by the Japanese professional wrestling promotion New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW).
New Japan Pro Wrestling (2016-Present)[edit | edit source]
After Henry being signed by NJPW in early 2016, he competed under the ring name "Henare", debuting on September 1, losing to Pro Wrestling Noah's Quiet Storm.[7] Henare competed as one of NJPW's "young lions", spending most of his matches losing to other, more experienced wrestlers, which would help put over other wrestlers while at the same time give Henare some in-ring, televised, experience. On September 8, Henare got his first victory in NJPW, defeating fellow young lion Hirai Kawato.[8] From November 18 until December 10, Henare and Manabu Nakanishi took part in the 2016 World Tag League, losing all his qualifying matches of the tournament. On February 21, 2017, during a match against Tomoyuki Oka, Henare suffered an achilles tendon injury, forcing the match to be stopped. Henare made his return in November, teaming with Togi Makabe to take part in the 2017 World Tag League.[9] Henare and Makabe finished the tournament with a record of one win and six losses, failling to advance to the finals of the tournament.[10]
On January 4, 2018, at Wrestle Kingdom 12, Henare renamed himself to "Toa Henare", graduating from his status as a young lion.[3] At the event, Henare took part in the New Japan Rumble, failling to win the match. On January 27 at the New Beginning in Sapporo, Henare received his first title shot, teaming with Ryusuke Taguchi and Togi Makabe to unsucessfully challenge Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. From November 16 until December 8, Henare and Hiroshi Tanahashi took part in the 2019 World Tag League, failling to win the tournament, after finishing it with a record of three wins and twelve losses. In the following year's World Tag League, Henare and Tanahashi finished the tournament with a worse record, winning one of their nine qualifying matches.
In wrestling[edit | edit source]
- Fnishing moves
- Blackout (Jumping Superman Punch)
- Toa Bottom (Falling side slam) – 2018–present
- Signature moves
- Boston Crab
- Diving shoulder block
- Dropkick
- Falling chop
- Hammerhead (No-touch headbutt)
- Lariat
- Lifting rugby tackle
- Rampage (Spear transitioned into a lifting side slam)
- Samoan drop
- Spinning spinebuster
- Tap 'n' Snap (Keylock)
- Thrust kick
Championships and accomplishments[edit | edit source]
- Impact Pro Wrestling
- IPW New Zealand Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jakob Cross
- Armageddon Cup (2014)
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 New Japan Pro-Wrestling : Henare . Retrieved on 2017-01-08.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The World's Largest Wrestling Database : Henare . Retrieved on 2017-01-08.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 ja:ブシモ 5th Anniversary Wrestle Kingdom 12 in 東京ドーム (in Japanese). New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved on 2018-01-04.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Henare - NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING . Retrieved on 2017-04-22.
- ↑ The World's Largest Wrestling Database . Retrieved on 2017-01-08.
- ↑ The spirit of a warrior: Toa Henare, Kiwi pro-wrestler . Maori Television (2018-11-01). Retrieved on 2020-07-09.
- ↑ The World's Largest Wrestling Database . Retrieved on 2017-01-08.
- ↑ The World's Largest Wrestling Database . Retrieved on 2017-01-08.
- ↑ 【『World Tag』出場チーム決定!】 “新顔”が続々登場! ジュース&キャラハン組! エルガン&ジェフ・コブ組！バレッタ&チャッキーT組! 復活のヘナーレは真壁とタッグ結成! (in Japanese). New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2017-11-06). Retrieved on 2017-11-06.
- ↑ Error on call to Template:ref web: Parameters url and title (or script-title) must be specified' (in Japanese). New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved on 2017-12-09.
