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

By Liam Crowley

Since returning to WWE this past fall, Karl Anderson has found himself in one of the most unique positions in the current professional wrestling landscape. While Anderson and tag partner Luke Gallows inked WWE deals after finishing up their commitments in Impact Wrestling, these contracts were signed in the middle of the duo's run with New Japan Pro Wrestling. Neither Anderson nor Gallows are on NJPW contracts, but they did agree to dates through next month's NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17. Beyond that, Anderson is still in possession of a major piece of New Japan's puzzle, that being the NEVER Openweight Championship.

Instead of stripping Anderson of the title, New Japan has allowed the veteran Bullet Club member to continue carrying the championship despite missing a scheduled defense against Hikuleo this past November at NJPW Battle Autumn. While he failed to make that event, Anderson did show up for his latest title match in the far east.

At Wednesday's NJPW World Tag League/Super Jr. Tag League Finals, Anderson pinned Hikuleo to successfully retain his NEVER Openweight Championship. After the bell, Anderson got on the microphone to declare that he would be holding the title forever, which caught the attention of a former friend.

Tama Tonga hit the ring and engaged in a brawl with Anderson, which ended with the Machine Gun standing tall. Anderson told Tonga that he would see him at Wrestle Kingdom, indicating that these two would do battle inside the Tokyo Dome next month.

Anderson and Tonga have a storied past in New Japan. The two are founding members of Bullet Club, as they were the first recruits of Prince Devitt (Finn Balor) and Bad Luck Fale. While leadership changed over the years, including a brief spell with Anderson himself at the helm, Anderson and Tonga remained core supporting members of the faction.

That changed earlier this year, when Tonga and tag partner Tonga Loa were kicked out of the group as Gallows and Anderson were reinstated. Even with the Guerrillas of Destiny no longer representing Bullet Club, they remained linked to the stable as they feuded with their former friends throughout 2022. This included Anderson and Tonga doing battle for the NEVER Openweight Championship this past June, which ended with Anderson beating Tonga for that title, kicking off the reign that he's still on to this day.

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom goes down on Wednesday, January 4th, 2023.

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