NJPW Still Has Plans To Use Karl Anderson

Karl Anderson is a hot topic in wrestling, and for good reason.

The active NEVER Openweight Champion was scheduled to defend the championship against Hikuleo in November, the same date as WWE’s Crown Jewel show. However, since he’s been announced for WWE’s Crown Jewel show, things have seemingly went awry. Anderson posted a video saying the NJPW booking wasn’t cleared with his tag team partner Gallows, and NJPW says they’ll strip him of the title if he doesn’t appear. He’s already been replaced for that match, but we’re told there are plans for a Karl Anderson vs. Hikuleo match for this year.

Despite this, Fightful is told there still are and always have been active plans for Karl Anderson to compete in NJPW. We haven’t heard an update on the title itself, but that NJPW does expect Anderson to fulfill additional dates, which WWE was fine with. Specifically, he’s still planned for Wrestle Kingdom.

Beyond that, we’re told that New Japan has been aware that Anderson and Gallows were heading to WWE as far back as August, and that’s when the deal was hammered out.. Those familiar with the situation say that things are fine between Anderson, NJPW and WWE.

This article first appeared on our premium service, Fightful Select and was republished here on Fightful. If you complain about it being “old news,” you have to let SRS dropkick you. Subscribe to get exclusive news every day, and a half-dozen weekly podcasts.

To directly support us and our continuing breaking news, interviews, and the like, subscribe to FightfulSelect.com. You’ll get exclusive news sent to you directly before anyone else, and dozens of podcasts monthly including Alex Pawlowski’s Sour Graps, Sean Ross Sapp’s Q&A, Retro Reviews and more