WWE's Karl Anderson's NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 Opponent Revealed

The OC man will face a familiar face at Wrestle Kingdom next month.

by Andrew Pollard
Karl Anderson Tama Tonga
NJPW

Having successfully retained the NEVER Openweight Championship against Hikuleo earlier today, Karl Anderson will face off against Tama Tonga at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 next month.

At today's NJPW World Tag League 2022 & Super Junior Tag League 2022, Machine Gun toppled Hikuleo after reversing a chokeslam into the Gun Stun. Post-match, Anderson grabbed a microphone and declared himself to be the greatest NEVER Openweight Champion in history and started to proclaim how he'll hold that prize for all time.

The OC man's tirade was interrupted by Tama Tonga heading to the ring. Both founding members of Bullet Club, the two exchanged strikes before Anderson nailed the Gun Stun and told Tama how he'll see him at Wrestle Kingdom.

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That match will take place at the Tokyo Dome on 4 January during Wrestle Kingdom 17's first night.

Anderson and Tonga last faced off back in October, where the Guerrillas of Destiny teamed with Hiroshi Tanahashi to beat Anderson, Doc Gallows and Jay White at Royal Quest II in London. In June, it was actually Tama Tonga who Karl Anderson defeated to become the NEVER Openweight Champion.

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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.