NJPW Issues Statement on Karl Anderson’s Status for November Event, Anderson Responds [Update]

Update:

Fightful Select recently provided several new details regarding the current situation between Karl Anderson and New Japan Pro Wrestling over the NEVER Openweight Championship.

It was reported that those spoken to stated that NJPW still have active plans for Anderson to continue working in the company and fulfill his current commitments. WWE officials reportedly were stated to be fine with Anderson finishing up his remaining work with NJPW.

It was reported that NJPW officials had been aware that Anderson and Doc Gallows were heading to WWE as far back as this past August, which was the same time that talks between WWE and the Good Brothers was being finalized. Those close to the situation reportedly stated that there is currently no bad will between NJPW, Anderson, and WWE over the current issues with Anderson’s scheduled booking for NJPW’s event this November.

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As noted before, The Good Brothers’ Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson made their surprise returns to WWE earlier this month. Following their return, the Good Brothers’ future in New Japan Pro Wrestling is currently believed to be in doubt despite Anderson being the current NEVER Openweight Champion.

NJPW recently issued an official statement stating that they have recently tried to negotiate with Anderson to resolve this issue and have been given no answer by Anderson over his status for the event. It was announced that should he be unable to appear in time for their upcoming Battle Autumn 2022 event on November 5th in Osaka, Japan, they will strip him of his NEVER Openweight Championship.

Official statement:

Thank you for supporting New Japan Pro-Wrestling.

Early morning Japan time on October 20, NEVER Openweight Champion Karl Anderson posted a video on social media indicating that he would not be making his advertised commitment on November 5 in Osaka.

NJPW had announced Anderson’s match with Hikuleo for the NEVER Openweight Championship on October 4. Despite comments from Doc Gallows to the contrary in Anderson’s video, the booking was made through the appropriate channels, and with Anderson’s expressed approval.

However, after the match’s announcement, both Gallows and Anderson would appear on the October 10 edition of WWE’s “Monday Night Raw” broadcast. This led to WWE announcing a match featuring both men for their Saudi Arabia event on November 5, in direct conflict with Anderson’s prior commitment.

NJPW has for the past several days attempted to negotiate with Anderson, but has not been met with a response. Should Anderson decide to renege on his scheduled championship match, he will be required to vacate the NEVER Openweight Championship and return the title belt to NJPW immediately.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling holds its champions to the highest standards of professionalism, and sincerely apologises to fans for any disappointment or inconvenience caused by this matter. 

Anderson recently responded on Twitter stating that he will not be vacating his NEVER Openweight Championship but will also only be defending his title on his own time and not on NJPW’s time.

I’m not vacating anything.
I’m the greatest #NeverOpenweightChampion of all time.
I’ll defend it on my time ….. get with my booking agent @The_BigLG
I’ll see ya then @Hiku_Leo 😘
That’s #TooSweet https://t.co/EyN24ib9TD

— Karl “The Machine Gun” Anderson (@MachineGunKA) October 26, 2022

In regards to NJPW’s creative process and how it affects the NEVER Openweight title, Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that NJPW had the majority of their creative plans set for next year’s Wrestle Kingdom 17 event as far back as this past August. Several NJPW talents spoken to stated that they had been informed of these plans throughout this past summer.