WWE Talent Advertised For NJPW Match

This WWE star is scheduled to compete for New Japan Pro-Wrestling next month.

Oct 11, 2022 October 11th, 2022

While the Good Brothers made their WWE return on last night's episode of Raw, many have pondered what that means for the status of the NEVER Openweight Title currently held by Karl Anderson.

Prior to arriving back in WWE and at the side of AJ Styles, Anderson was scheduled to defend that NEVER Openweight Championship against Hikuleo at NJPW Battle Autumn in Osaka, Japan on 5 November - which coincidentally is the same date as the next Crown Jewel event from Saudi Arabia.

Given how WWE has famously not allowed talent to work for other promotions, some had speculated that Machine Gun's WWE return may see that title vacated. As of this writing, though, it appears that Anderson vs. Hikuleo is indeed still set to happen next month.

As New Japan Pro-Wrestling posted an updated Battle Autumn line-up earlier today, the promotion listed the NEVER Openweight Title contest as still taking place.

From the NJPW website:

Also already announced for November 5, Karl Anderson will defend the NEVER Openweight Championship gold against Hikuleo. The Machine Gun will go wherever the bright lights will lead him, and that certainly rings true when it comes to November’s big Osaka event. Might it also be true of Wrestle Kingdom and a NEVER Championship defence on the grandest stage? Or will Hikuleo seize the moment and his first career championship?

There has been previous rumblings that WWE is open to allowing any recently-signed talent to finish up pre-existing bookings where possible, and so it could well be that this is the case for Karl Anderson - especially with him currently holding a New Japan Pro-Wrestling belt.

For those who may have missed it, the Good Brothers WWE return last night saw them provide back-up for AJ Styles in the Phenomenal One's burgeoning beef with the Finn Balor-led Judgment Day. Of course, Balor and Anderson were two of the founders of the Bullet Club faction which Styles and Doc Gallows have also been a significant part of.

Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

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