What did "Hongi" mean?

[Allie Kitsune]

There was a time very late in their run where the Bushwhackers would yell "Hongi!", and even had it printed on their gear.

But what the hell did it mean?

[Deleted]

Google is your friend.

[Wolf Hawkfield no1 NZ poster]

Jan 16, 2018 14:58:29 GMT -5 Allie Kitsune said:

There was a time very late in their run where the Bushwhackers would yell "Hongi!", and even had it printed on their gear.

But what the hell did it mean?

Its a traditional Maori greeting.

The traditional Māori greeting, the Hongi is done by pressing one's nose and forehead, at the same time, to another encounter. It is used at traditional meetings among Māori people and on major ceremonies and serves a similar purpose to a formal handshake. In the hongi, the ha (or breath of life), is exchanged.

And this is what it looks like....

[Blindkarevik]

Didn't it serve two purposes?

1. To get them to stop licking people

2. To try and give them one last thing to get over with before they left the company?

[Deleted]

Jan 16, 2018 14:58:29 GMT -5 Allie Kitsune said:

There was a time very late in their run where the Bushwhackers would yell "Hongi!", and even had it printed on their gear.

And I think they even slapped audio of them yelling it at the beginning of their entrance music too.

Those were their final days, when the WWF was more intrerested in trying to keep them from jumping to WCW than actually using them - but I reckon someone in marketing/licensing wanted to come up with a new take on them to keep it fresh.

They were barely part timers in 1995-6 and I'll assume made gobs of money from Vince for all that.