Aaron Henare: returning to Japan's wrestling scene with a mataora. Photo / File
In professional wrestling, characters and gimmicks (in-ring personas) make the sport more entertaining.
But for Māori pro-wrestler Aaron Henare, reconnecting with his whakapapa and culture by receiving his mataora, is no gimmick.
The journey has been more than a year in the making for the Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Kurī, and Ngāi Takoto athlete.
Returning home to the Far North from Japan to receive the blueprint of his ancestors, he says the mataora now shows who he truly is.
“I was getting all of these tohu (signs). It’s been a magical week, running into whānau members everywhere I go. It’s like getting these markings attracted everything.
“I feel more secure in myself as well, and more representative of my tūpuna.
“I’ve felt mana, responsibility, power all wrapped up in one. It’s not just that I’ve got these markings and I’m the man, it’s now ‘I’ve got these markings, now the responsibilities have doubled, tripled, quadrupled.’”
Henare's wife and whānau give Aaron comfort through the pain, with kaitā Raniera McGrath. Photo / File
Returning to Aotearoa for the first time since January 2022, June 23 was the day of marking for Henare, receiving his mataora by kaitā Raniera McGrath (Te Rarawa, Muriwhenua, Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi) and shared with his whānau in Rotokura/Cable Bay.
It was a day of emotion, realisation and pride for someone who knew little about his Māori side growing up. The same can be said for his whānau, who were also in the experience of firsts.
"I'm pretty good at keeping stoic, keeping strong even under stress and under emotion but seeing my whānau, bro, my dad, my nan, my uncle.
"To put it into perspective, my nan, she was told when she was growing up 'don't marry a maari (Māori)'. She told me, she pulled me aside and was like, 'this is the first time I have seen our traditions lived properly in our family.'”
"That mana doesn't go away; they can take away our language and land but you can't take away the mana from our ancestors."
Nan stays by her moko's side. Photo / File
Aaron is the first in his whānau in many generations, since Te Rarawa chief Te Huhu, to have a facial tā moko.
The mataora brings a lot more than just visual, spiritual and emotional change for Henare. He must also navigate the land of the rising sun with a visual tattoo, which Japanese view as taboo or connected to gangsters.
Though not illegal, some places in Japan dictate whether people must cover tattoos up before they enter a premises or be denied from entering, such as restaurants and gyms.
But it’s not a problem for someone answering the call of his ancestors.
Henare has already given his company, New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), the heads up about his mataora and, with its acceptance, will compete inside the ring without any fear of being denied through the door when he returns to action in August.
“I put up a poll (on social media). I said what’s more excruciatingly painful; a moko on the lips or 10 steel chairs? Sure enough, everyone chose moko on the lips.
“But when you put it into perspective, that was the most painful thing that I went through in my life, but I know our tupuna went through a lot more than that; losing their land being disconnected from their culture. That pain that I bear is nothing compared to the pain they bore.”
Henare prepares for his first match in his new look on home soil. Photo / File
July 1 would see Henare give back to the NZ wrestling scene with a training seminar for newcomers and experienced wrestlers, right before his Matariki Rumble event.
How fitting that in a week of returns, the event was hosted at his old kura of Pakuranga College. And it was packed with more than 600 raucous fans, both familiar and new to the pro wrestling scene.
In the main event, Henare enlisted the help of the college’s kapa haka group to be a part of his epic entrance before squaring off against the South Island’s ‘Hooligan’ Marcus Kool.
Henare went on to defeat Kool in brutal fashion, ending the night with thunderous reception from the crowd and a celebratory haka from the fans, the kapa haka group and other wrestlers competing that night in honour of Henare’s mataora – the first Māori to bring it to pro wrestling.
Henare leaves Aotearoa a winner in his main event match. Photo / File
Following the event, Henare says, “Māoritanga was front and centre at the show … everyone brought the mana.
“It’s exactly what we wanted and exactly what we want to bring to Aotearoa.”
Henare returns to Japan in preparation for NJPW's G1 Climax tournament in August.
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