HENARE

Dec 1, 2020 - by Jamie Cruickshank

Real Name: Aaron Henry
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 229 lbs.
Date of Birth: August 5, 1992
Hometown: Auckland, New Zealand
Pro Debut: 2008
Trained By: IPW & NJPW Dojo
Finishing Move: Blackout

Biography

– Henry hails from a sporting family, his uncle being former New Zealand rugby captain, Richie Barnett
– An accomplished amateur wrestler, Henry began training at New Zealand’s Impact Pro Wrestling in 2008
– Henry (under the name A-Class) debuted on October 25, 2008, competing in a Battle Royal
– A-Class won the 2010 IPW Armageddon Cup, defeating Brian St James in the final
– In mid-2012, Henry began competing under his real name
– On September 21, 2013, The Agents Of Change (Henry & Jakob Cross) defeated TnT (Brother T & Lil T) to win the IPW New Zealand Tag Team Titles
– On October 27, The Agents Of Change defeated TnT (TK Cooper & Lil T), James Shaw & Johnny Idol and Vinny Dunn & Pat Schisk to retain the IPW New Zealand Tag Team Titles
– The next day, The Agents Of Change defeated Travis Banks & Mason Daniels in a Street Fight to retain the IPW New Zealand Tag Team Titles
– On December 7, The Agents Of Change lost the IPW New Zealand Tag Team Titles to TnT (TK Cooper & Lil T), but would regain them later that night
– On February 1, 2014, The Agents Of Change defeated Liam Fury & Mason Daniels to retain the IPW New Zealand Tag Team Titles
– In early 2016, Henry signed with New Japan Pro Wrestling. After a brief stint in the UK in March, he reported to the Dojo in May
– Henry wrestled his New Japan debut on September 1, 2016 under the name ‘Henare’, losing to Quiet Storm at a Lion’s Gate Project event
– Henare suffered a torn achilles tendon in February 2017 in a match against Tomoyuki Oka and would miss most of the year
– Henare returned to action on November 18, 2017, teaming with Togi Makabe & Hiroshi Tanahashi to defeat Suzuki-gun (Lance Archer, El Desperado & Davey Boy Smith Jr)
– At Wrestle Kingdom 12, Henare competed in the pre-show Rambo match, now working under the name ‘Toa Henare’
– At Power Struggle 2018, Henare, Chris Sabin, Ryusuke Taguchi & ACH defeated Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask, Volador Jr & El Soberano Jr
– At Takashi Iizuka’s Retirement Show, Henare, Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Tiger Mask defeated Satoshi Kojima, Manabu Nakanishi, Ren Narita & Yota Tsuji
– At NJPW’s Southern Showdown event, Henare, Shota Umino & Nick Bury defeated Michael Richards, Andrew Villalobos & Mark Tui
– At Destruction in Kagoshima 2019, Henare, Manabu Nakanishi, Alex Coughlin & Karl Fredericks defeated Yuji Nagata, Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino & Yota Tsuji
– At Wrestle Kingdom 14, Henare, Clark Connors, Alex Coughlin & Karl Fredericks defeated Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe, Yuya Uemura & Yota Tsuji in the pre-show dark match
– At Tiger Hattori’s Retirement Show, Henare, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma defeated Gabriel Kidd, Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura
– At Sakura Genesis, Henare (now working as ‘Aaron Henare’) was revealed as the newest member of Will Ospreay’s United Empire stable. At the event, he teamed with Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan to defeat Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & SANADA)
– At Windy City Riot, United Empire (Henare, Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan, Kyle Fletcher, Mark Davis & TJP) defeated BULLET CLUB (Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson, Chris Bey, El Phantasmo, Scott Norton & Hikuleo)
– At The New Beginning in Nagoya 2023, United Empire (Henare, Will Ospreay & Francesco Akira) defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi & DOUKI
– At NJPW TAMASHII III, United Empire (Henare & Kyle Fletcher) defeated Rogue Army (Bad Luck Fale & Jack Bonza) by DQ
– At NJPW’s 51st Anniversary Special, United Empire (Henare, Jeff Cobb & Great O-Khan) defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & SANADA)
– At Sakura Genesis 2023, United Empire (Henare, Cobb & Francesco Akira) defeated House of Torture (EVIL, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi)
– At Hirooki Goto’s 20th Anniversary special, United Empire (Henare, Kyle Fletcher, Mark Davis & Jeff Cobb) defeated TMDK (Zack Sabre Jr, Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste & Kosei Fujita)
– At Satsuma no Kuni 2023, United Empire (Henare, Francesco Akira & TJP) defeated Tomoaki Honma, Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA
– At the 2023 All Together Again event, United Empire (Henare, Francesco Akira, Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan & TJP) defeated Jun Saito, Rei Saito, Hikaru Sato, Dan Tamura & Ryuki Honda
– In the 2023 G1 Climax Tournament, Henare’s ringname was re-styled as HENARE

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