Karl Anderson recently made his return to WWE alongside tag team partner Luke Gallows. The two men, collectively known as the Good Brothers, aligned themselves with AJ Styles in his fight against Finn Balor, Damian Priest, and Dominik Mysterio. A clash between these two trios is set to go down on November 5th at WWE Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia, which happens to be a busy day in the world of professional wrestling. Thousands of miles east will be NJPW Battle Autumn in Japan, an event that Anderson himself is currently booked for. As the current NEVER Openweight Champion, Anderson is booked to defend his title against Hikuleo at said show in just over a week.
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NJPW President Takami Ohbari was said to be “angry” with Anderson’s double booking, and the company has since offered the Machine Gun an ultimatum: defend the NEVER Openweight Championship at NJPW Battle Autumn or be stripped of the title.
“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,” the company stated. “New Japan Pro-Wrestling holds its champions to the highest standards of professionalism, and sincerely apologies to fans for any disappointment or inconvenience caused by this matter.”
Anderson himself has since responded to the ultimatum, noting that neither option works for him.
“I’m not vacating anything.I’m the greatest Never Openweight Champion of all time.I’ll defend it on my time ….. get with my booking agent [Luke Gallows],” Anderson wrote on Twitter. “I’ll see ya then, Hikuleo. That’s too sweet.”
Hikuleo also responded to the situation, revealing that he can be patient.
“No vacancy needed,” Hikuleo wrote on Twitter. “I’ll wait.”
There’s still a chance that Anderson shows up at NJPW Battle Autumn despite currently being advertised for WWE Crown Jewel. The Good Brothers recently formed a relationship with NXT’s Cameron Grimes, so if Anderson is hypothetically written out of upcoming the six-man tag match, there is a storyline replacement for him ready and waiting. That, or Styles and Gallows could look to other former Bullet Club allies that would be available, although that list is significantly limited. The only former BC players that have ties to WWE are Jeff Jarrett and Cody Rhodes, and neither of those men are active members of the WWE roster right now.
Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for updates on Anderson’s NJPW status.
