New Japan Pro Wrestling have issued a statement regarding Karl Anderson being double booked for November 5th.
Recently Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows, The Good Brothers, returned to WWE TV as part of The OC with AJ Styles. Quickly, they found themselves in a major premium live event match on November 5th. This created an issue, as Anderson is also scheduled to defend his NEVER Openweight Championship on the same date for New Japan Pro Wrestling. Anderson would later release a video stating he would not be appearing for NJPW on that date.
On October 25, NJPW issued an official statement on the situation. You can read the full statement below.
Thank you for supporting New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
Early morning Japan time on October 20, NEVER Openweight Champion Karl Anderson posted a video on social media indicating that he would not be making his advertised commitment on November 5 in Osaka.
NJPW had announced Anderson’s match with Hikuleo for the NEVER Openweight Championship on October 4. Despite comments from Doc Gallows to the contrary in Anderson’s video, the booking was made through the appropriate channels, and with Anderson’s expressed approval.
However, after the match’s announcement, both Gallows and Anderson would appear on the October 10 edition of WWE’s “Monday Night Raw” broadcast. This led to WWE announcing a match featuring both men for their Saudi Arabia event on November 5, in direct conflict with Anderson’s prior commitment.
NJPW has for the past several days attempted to negotiate with Anderson, but has not been met with a response. Should Anderson decide to renege on his scheduled championship match, he will be required to vacate the NEVER Openweight Championship and return the title belt to NJPW immediately.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling holds its champions to the highest standards of professionalism, and sincerely apologises to fans for any disappointment or inconvenience caused by this matter.
NJPW Statement
Time will tell what will happen in this regard. WWE have not commented on the matter.
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