Wrestling

More on Karl Anderson’s Challenger for NJPW Title Defense, Backstage Notes on Anderson and Luke Gallows’ NJPW Futures

November 23, 2022

WWE’s Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows are reportedly set to work more NJPW dates.

As noted, The O.C. took to Instagram on Tuesday to announce that Anderson will defend his NEVER Openweight Title on Wednesday, December 14 at NJPW’s World Tag League & Super Junior Tag League finals event from Sendai Sunplaza Hall in Sendai, Japan. Gallows and AJ Styles. The announcement came after a storyline where NJPW threatened to strip Anderson of the title, amid reports that he and Gallows may be working NJPW dates in the future, including the big Wrestle Kingdom 17 show in January from the Tokyo Dome.

In an update, a new report from Fightful Select notes that the plan is still for Anderson to work more NJPW dates beyond the title defense in December.

It was said that Anderson and Gallows have always been penciled in for Wrestle Kingdom, and they have had plans to work the big event. Gallows and Anderson committed to working those dates even before they left Impact Wrestling in September.

While the situation with The Good Brothers was unconventional, NJPW officials were told of Anderson and Gallows’ WWE return back in August. A plan was put in place to have Anderson work dates around his WWE schedule, while advancing the storylines.

NJPW has not officially announced Anderson’s opponent for next month, but Hikuleo is expected to be the challenger. As seen in the tweet below, he indicated today that he will be facing Anderson that day. Hikuleo was originally scheduled to face Anderson on November 5 in Osaka, before The O.C. was booked for WWE Crown Jewel.