Karl Anderson OUT Of Upcoming NJPW Show

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

by Andy H Murray
Karl Anderson
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.

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.

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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:-

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"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.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.