Karl Anderson OUT Of Upcoming NJPW Show

NEVER Openweight Champion pulls out of NJPW defence due to WWE scheduling conflict.

By Andy H Murray /

NJPW

Karl Anderson has confirmed the inevitable following WWE's announcement that he and fellow OC members Luke Gallows will wrestle at Crown Jewel 2022.

Advertisement

The OC's six-man tag with The Judgment Day's Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio, and Damian Priest was confirmed for the 5 November premium live event during this week's Raw. This created an immediate scheduling conflict, as Anderson, the reigning NEVER Openweight Champion, had already been announced for NJPW's Battle August show in Osaka, Japan the same day.

It would have taken a teleportation device for Anderson to be in Osaka and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and make both events. Now, he has confirmed he won't be fulfilling the New Japan booking.

Advertisement

Anderson and Gallows uploaded a short promo to the former's Twitter account yesterday. In the largely in-character clip, Gallows is referred to as Anderson's "booking agent", with the Good Brothers claiming New Japan made the announcement without running it by Luke.

Said Anderson:-

Advertisement
"New Japan Pro-Wrestling, listen. I love what you've done for the Good Brothers through these years, but let me tell you something. I am the greatest NEVER Openweight Champion of all time. I only work when the lights are bright and November 5th, we ain't coming. We'll come on our time. The Machine Gun will tell you when I'm coming to defend my championship."

Anderson has been NEVER Openweight Champion for 130 days, having dethroned Tama Tonga in June. He and Gallows have reportedly committed to work NJPW shows through Wrestle Kingdom (January 2023) having recently returned to WWE.