New Zealander Toa Henare became a Young Lion at the NJPW Noge Dojo in early 2016 after training at the New Japan New Zealand Dojo (AKA Fale Dojo) and has since established himself as one to keep your eye on in the future. He recently sat down with the New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) website to speak about how he’s handling COVID-19, his dedication to training, and his goals within NJPW.
When asked about his experience teaming up with Hiroshi Tanahashi in last years’ World Tag League (WTL) Tournament, Henare said the following:
It was amazing. He’s not just a next level wrestler, but a next level human being. He’s like a real life version of Goku from Dragon Ball. You just feel an energy from him. There’s nothing bad about him. So I had to ask myself ‘If I’m with him, what do I bring to this team?’
While the team dubbed ‘HenarAce’ only finished with three victories and six points, Henare began catching on with the crowd due to his intense training regime paying dividends in the ring. “When I injured my Achilles, that meant I didn’t get the excursion a lot of Young Lions get, so I didn’t reset enough. I got too caught up in the Young Lion style, and didn’t branch out. Now I can finally say ‘this is who I am, and this is what I want the fans to see’, in a real sense,” he continued when speaking about what he learned during that month teaming with Tanahashi.
After being asked about the recently retired Manabu Nakanishi, Henare reminisced about how Nakanishi was a regular face at the NJPW Noge Dojo when Henare first became a student. He would also mention how Nakanishi is a nice guy, which is a normal sentiment relayed by those who know the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion.
When asked why he has his eye on the NEVER Openweight Championship Henare had the following response:
There’s the old saying ‘styles make fights’. You can get a small junior heavyweight versus a super heavyweight, or you can make different trios with the six man titles. You don’t get that anywhere else in the world. It’s almost like the early days of MMA, where you have very different combat styles in there.
“I’d been before, last summer, but this was much harder. It was a legitimate, professional fight camp. The trainers actually asked me if I wanted to fight at the end of it, but I thought the company might not be happy with me if I took a fight at the last minute!” Henare commented when asked about the recent Muay Thai camp he attended. He has famously trained in Muay Thai to add an extra element to his in-ring work and help him obtain a new level of fitness.
“I’d been doing combat sports my whole life, when I started wrestling I learned to be humble, and quiet about it, but now I’m starting to feel like I can bring this aspect of myself into my game a little bit more,” he continued on the topic of Muay Thai.
During the sitdown, Henare would also discuss a topic he detailed on the Kayfabe Brothers podcast about how he came to join the NJPW Noge Doge, while he was in the United States with an offer to join the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Performance Center, “I was in the States for three days. I was supposed to start on the fourth day. I got the phone call, and I had a one hour period to make my decision. Best decision I’ve ever made.”
