Various: Karl Anderson NJPW Update, Brandi Rhodes In-Ring Career Future, Indies

AEW

Nov 23, 2022

Karl Anderson NJPW Status Update

As noted before, Karl Anderson is currently scheduled to defend his NEVER Openweight Championship at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Super Junior Tag League & World Tag League 2022 Finals event next month in Japan. Anderson’s future in NJPW was in doubt following his and Luke Gallows’ return to WWE this past October and him being involved in a recent booking dispute with NJPW.

Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that Anderson’s upcoming scheduled appearance in NJPW might not be his last for the company. Those spoken to reportedly stated that NJPW officials had been made aware in August that Anderson and Gallows would be returning to WWE and had put a plan in place to have Anderson work dates for them around his WWE schedule.

It was also reported that NJPW officials still have plans for Anderson to work at their upcoming Wrestle Kingdom 17 event next year. Anderson and Gallows reportedly had committed to working select dates for NJPW prior to their recent departure from Impact Wrestling.

Brandi Rhodes Comments on Future of Her In-Ring Career

As noted before, Brandi Rhodes’ contract with AEW expired earlier this year and departed from the company this past February.

A recent episode of NBC Sports’ Ten Count podcast had Rhodes as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Rhodes’ thoughts on the future of her in-ring wrestling career.

“I’m the one that’s very big in the family on not saying absolutes. As we know, my husband likes to say absolutes and then life happens. I’m not going to say absolutes, but I will say, right now, it’s not in my plan. I kind of did myself a good service in taking a beat. My number one priority when everything happened and we left AEW, my number one priority was making sure my husband’s dream was realized. It’s been a dream in the making for him since he was four years old. It’s a good thing that we pressed forward and got to see this through. I was always on the back burner and working on other things. I got Shot of Brandi in the ether, I started doing this podcast. I have other things cooking in the non-wrestling world. In that period of time, I got to spend a lot of time with my daughter, I got to watch her develop in these unexpected ways and find these different things that she is thriving at and liking. I want to be part of that. When I look at life in wrestling, there is the inevitable travel and it’s the choice you have to make that you travel with your child or not. If I were to travel with my child, I’m taking her away from some environments she’s used to. I won’t say ‘no,’ it’s not going to happen, but I will say right now, it’s not front of mind for me.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

House of Glory recently announced that Nick Aldis will be making an appearance for the company at their Revelations event on December 17th in Queens, New York.

Lucha Libre AAA recently announced that Cain Velasquez will be making an appearance for the company at their December 3rd event in Tempe, Arizona. In regards to Velasquez’s on-going legal issues over an attempted murder incident this past February, MMA Junkie reported that a judge had granted Velasquez’s request to be allowed work at this upcoming event.

Aaron Dean Eisenberg reportedly recently joined the cast of the upcoming film The Iron Claw based on the Von Erich family, according to Deadline.com. It was reported that Eisenberg will be portraying Ric Flair in the film.

CNN recently released a report profiling two indie wrestlers who portray the character “The Progressive Liberal” Dan Richards and primary wrestle as heels in the Southern United States and in areas that heavily lean towards the conservative Republican party. It was reported that both Beau James and Dan Harnsberger, who portray the character, have become increasingly worried for their well-being over the past five years due to crowds at their events have become more violent to the point of them being physically attacked at shows. It was also reported that the duo had to enact several rules in place for their character in recent times in order to prevent crowds from becoming even more violent towards them and each other during events.

New Japan Pro Wrestling recently announced that Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre talents Mistico, Volador Jr., Titan, Soberano Jr., Dulce Gardenia, Rey Cometa, Ultimo Guerrero, Hechicero, Atlantis Jr., Templario, Barbaro Cavernario, Okumura, Magia Blanca, Suicida, and El Hijo del Villano III will be making an appearance for the company at their upcoming Fantasticamania 2023 tour in February of 2023 in Japan.

DDT Pro Wrestling recently announced that Naomi Yoshimura suffered a herniated disc injury at their event on November 18th and will be out of action for the foreseeable future. It was also announced that due to Yoshimura’s injury, they have stripped him of his KO-D Tag Team Championship with Kazusada Higuchi as a result.

Pro Wrestling Guerilla recently announced that next year’s Battle of Los Angeles tournament will be taking place on January 7-8, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.

PWG also recently announced that Michael Oku is the first official entrant for next year’s Battle of Los Angeles tournament.

Wrestling Revolver recently announced a new match for the card of their Season Finale event on December 3rd in Clive, Iowa: