HENARE

[9.0] "HENARE used to be just that boring old tough guy, but ever since he came out with the Maori tattoo, he has been something else, by embracing his heritage he has become one of the best parts of United Empire, and really should be Ospraey's replacement as the leader."

[8.0] "Henare is decent. He is able to put on a good match in the undercard but that is about it. I don't necessarily think he should win any of the big belts or anything however he, when he is with the right opponent, he is great. He has improved a lot over the years and with the right opponent he is a (9.0) generally though he is a (7.5)"

[6.0] "Bland tough guy gimmick with your typical angry guy promos. In ring is average though can be pulled up to good matches by the top guys."

[7.0] "I am bumping HENARE up to a 7 from my original rating of 5. He has definitely found his footing within the last year and a half and is now capable of putting on engaging, hard-hitting matches that are often the highlight of the undercard of any show."

[8.0] "Henare is the guy who has done the most on the NJPW roster to exceed my expectations this year. Similar to the way that a series of matches against Ishii in 2019 bumped Taichi into a different tier and provided a foundation to build on, I am hoping for the same consistent progress and growth for Henare following an absolutely stellar series of matches with Shingo in 2023. The key difference is that I think Henare has an even higher ceiling. His moveset makes sense with his look and character, his athleticism is off the charts in terms of strength AND endurance, his strikes and throws all look great (and safe! except id like him to get comfortable using exclusively worked headbutts) and his selling his very strong as well. I think he's operating at a sneaky high level right now and im looking forward to editing this in a couple of years and taking the rating even higher."

[8.0] "With his 5.25 Star banger earlier this year and his first few performances in the G1, I think Henare has firmly established his place amongst New Japan's hardest hitters. Combine that with a completely unique new look and I think this or next year might be the year of HENARE."

[7.0] "Henare has really found his footing recently. A bunch of great matches so far, looking forward to seeing how he continues to improve"

[7.0] "After years of being bland and inconsistent it finally feels like he's improving and is trying to bring something to New Japan. His biggest contribution surely is the ultimate triad match against Shingo Takagi."

[8.0] "Im not a fan of his outside of the ring but putting that aside, Henare has improved a ton. Hes come a long way since his Im just a step above a Young Lion days. His latest finishers are good and his matches with Shingo Takagi have been great with the Ultimate Triad match at Road to Wrestling Dontaku being a standout during WrestleMania weekend. I prefer the tag of GOK/Henare over GOK/Cobb (Jeff Cobb is fantastic but shines as a singles star). Wouldnt be surprised to see Henare win the Provisional KOPW Championship or NEVER Openweight Championship at some point."

[7.0] "I think Henare has really turned himself into a solid enforcer for the UE. He has shown great character with his ferocious MMA and explosive strong style moveset put together. His match with Shingo has been the best match for NJPW so far this year. management is now fully behind him as well"

[8.0] "Henare is my favorite wrestler I always forget. He's very solid in the ring and knowledgeable about his craft. He might not be very charismatic, but that's why United Empire is there for."

[7.0] "Very puzzled by the very low ratings. He's had some solid matches as of late, his matches with Shingo especially."

[8.0] "It took years, but Aaron (formerly Toa) Henare has figured out the kind of wrestler he is meant to be. He's really found himself as the no nonsense fighter of the United Empire."

[8.0] "Henare is very underrated. Perhaps in terms of character, he is not as good as it should be for the Empire, but in the ring he pays for everything. I don't understand why he has such an average rating but I like him"

[4.0] "Mediocre. Weakest member of the UE that eats the pins and usually has the least dynamic/sloppiest performance. There's nothing about his character work either that is engaging. He is well spoken on commentary however."

[6.0] "Maybe he is not very good wrestler, but he fits for the UE gimmick. Nice tag wrestler that doesn't spoil matches with good opponents like Goto, KENTA or SANADA. Nice player for this game"

[3.0] "Is the worst of the united empire. A generic wrestler that done generic bad wrestling. Much forgettable. *1/2"

[1.0] "Thought Henare would improve after his Young Lion stint and injury as well as his long undercard job guy run, but he really hasn't improved himself outside of his look in the United Empire. Also turns out he believes in some really shitty things and is incredibly stupid about owning up to it when confronted about it."

"Henare's a 6 in my book. Since joining the United Empire, his stock went up a bit. He's still the fall guy, but every now and then, he gets a pinfall or submission over someone. The plus side to that is that he can take multiple losses without it harming him too much. He hasn't really had any remarkable matches or accomplishments yet in NJPW, but I hope that changes in 2023. I'd love to see him enter the NEVER Openweight title scene, as his style represents the gritty brawler style that put that title on the map in NJPW. Overall, he's a 6, intense and fiery in the ring, comfortable enough as the "Ultimate Weapon" of the United Empire, but just needs to enter a title scene to fully unlock his potential."

[5.0] "I had hopes that Henare would have broken out by now. He's got good size and showed promise early in his career but he's not kicked on. Has some good impactful moves but is yet to show he has learned any psychology. His character is now a bit more interesting but I think he has yet to grow into it properly."

[0.0] "Very dull, can only do a few strikes well, unfortunately he is a piece of shit who supports the human trafficer Andrew Tate. He has failed to do much besides be a pin eater and I don't even want him as that."

[5.0] "I'm impressed with the power and intensity Aaron Henare brings to his opponents in the ring. His match with Fujita on New Japan Road was brutal. I hope that NJPW can include him in more storylines so that we can see more of Aaron Henare."

[0.0] "Treated within New Zealand as a golden child due to having "made it" to New Japan. Everyone ignores the fact the only reason he made it there is by being friends with Fale. Now he's part of the United Empire where he's far and away the least important member of the stable. This rating was a 1 and is now a 0 because if whoever wrote that glowing review with a 10 isn't the man himself, I'll be surprised."

[7.0] "I feel bad for Henare he's a solid enough worker. But a lot of little things have set him back. I know he suffered an injury early on. Then he didn't get an excursion so he just fell into the role of guy who took pins to protect bigger names. Even with the gimmick change he's still in that role"

[6.0] "Henare has been elevated a bit since joining the United Empire, but he's still the pin guy and can be a super "just alright" kind of wrestler. He could be a big player in other companies, but he's just a lower-upper midcarder here."

[5.0] "Even as a member of the Empire, Henare hasn? t done much to stand out, I honestly forget he? s in the group most of the time. He? s still young, so he has time to improve, but I don? t really see it happening. I honestly think he would be better off in another promotion."

[6.0] "Little unremarkable at this stage of the game but has always been a solid undercarder. Hopefully get to see him branch out a bit more and get some solo shine in now that he's a part of United Empire."

[8.0] "As Toa, he was a big 4.0, because no matter how tough, savage or primal he tried to represent the Maoris, that didn't mattered at all if he was teaming with bigger names and that's why he never got off the ground. As Aaron, the evolving of Maori warrior to Maori royal gangster made him tremendously serviceable. He got his own badass theme, own finisher and own gimmick, not to mention his addition of MMA arsenal mixing with some wrestling turned him into a tremendous brawler. I hope we can get more out of Aaron, because I always had faith in him since his young lion days."

[10.0] "The best wrestler in New Japan today and the indirect leader of the best faction in New Japan, United Empire! Henare is the bright future of NJPW and the future ace. He should have won against Jay White instead of Finlay damn it but it's okay, he is going to win G1 and prove why he is the best!"

[4.0] "Before joining the United Empire, Henare was as anonymous and invisible as any New Japan wrestler I've ever seen. Sure he's a fine talent, but I've never felt like he's belonged in the biggest company in Japan. I'll wait and see how he does with guys like Cobb and Ospreay in his corner, but I'm not overly optimistic that this is the move that'll send him to more meaningful matches. I think a sabbatical to AJPW or NOAH could do this guy a world of good, but I don't see that ever happening."

[8.0] "I don't quite understand why Henare's rating is so low here. While he hasn't had his big breakthrough victory yet, Henare is one of the most exciting performers in New Japan in my opinion. His incredibly stiff and fast strikes are a joy to watch. The guy is basically a shoe-in for the NEVER division, which I think he'll really excel in once he finally gets that victory over Ishii."

[4.0] "What I have seen so far of him hasn't impressed me. He's very underwhelming all around and his only selling point is he's a powerful Maori. Cool look but that doesn't make a wrestler. I strongly suspect he could work much better in a promotion like BJW where he could throw people through tables and/or engage in power move contests to his heart content instead of sticking to an extremely limited repertoire like he's doing right now in NJPW."

[6.0] "Henare is blurring the line between being an underwhelming low card wrestler and a young lion. Maybe in a few years after an excursion or more training he'll be good but for now he's really nothing special."

[6.0] "Sehr überraschend ist er nach seiner Rückkehr mittlerweile ein ehemaliger (? ) Young Lion, ohne eine Exkursion gemacht zu haben. Ähnlich macht man es ja mit David Finlay, jedoch klappt das bei dem bisher überhaupt nicht. Ich bin mal gespannt, wie Henare in den nächsten 24 Monaten eingesetzt wird. Ich denke immer noch, dass er definitiv Potenzial hat sich im New Japan Roster zu etablieren. Er zeigt gute Ansätze und bringt das nötige Feuer mit. Wenn er weiterhin an sich arbeitet und sich weiter verbessert, traue ich ihm durchaus eine Togi Makabe ähnliche Rolle zu, zumindest was den Wrestling-Stil angeht."

[7.0] "He is an exciting performer and can have a good match if give him opportunity. Right now, he is still young lion even though he have his own ring attire. His exchange with Ishii is tell me that he has plenty that he can show to the fan of new japan wrestling. I think new japan should send him to US for excursion and let him develop to reach his true potential."

[6.0] "Aufstrebender Young Lion in dem ich viel Potential sehe. Er muss ich viel lernen, workt aber trotzdem super Matches. Mal sehen wie er sich entwickelt und ob er auch auf eine Exkursion kommt. Er ist für mich ein zukünftiger hoher Mitspieler in der Heavyweight devision. In 5 Jahren wird man ihn bestimmt dort sehen"