NJPW has issued an official statement regarding the Karl Anderson situation.
To recap the timeline of events that occurred leading to this situation – On October 4, NJPW announced that Karl Anderson was scheduled to defend his NEVER Openweight title against Hikuleo at Battle Autumn on November 5 in Osaka, Japan. On the October 10 episode of WWE RAW, Anderson was booked in a six man tag team match at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia also scheduled for November 5. On October 19, Anderson and Gallows posted a video on social media indicating Anderson will not be at NJPW Battle Autumn defending his title against Hikuleo.
NJPW obviously not happy with the decision by Karl Anderson issued this statement on October 25:
“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.”
As of this writing, Karl Anderson has not yet responded to this statement by NJPW.
PWMania is watching this story closely and will continue to update as news develops.
