Karl Anderson and his “Good Brother” Doc-now-Luke Gallows are officially back in WWE. Yes, technically, the former is still the Never Openweight Champion of New Japan Pro Wrestling and even has the belt for good measure, but instead of gearing up for an appearance at NJPW Battle Autumn on November 5th, the “Machine Gun” was instead getting punched where the sun don't shine – or having his uprights split, as AEW's Excalibur would say – by none other than Rhea Ripley in the leadup to The OC's match against Judgement Day at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia on November 5th.

Wait, stereo November 5ths? But that's the same date! This fact, unsurprisingly, wasn't lost on fans of professional wrestling, so much so that “Bright Lights” and his booking agent, “The Big LG” released a statement to declare that he was not only planning on remaining the Never Openweight Champion – the best Never Openweight Champion, if you ask Anderson – NJPW was going to have to accommodate his schedule to get him in the ring with Hikuleo or whomever they wanted to throw his way. This, understandably, didn't sit too well with NJPW, who released the following statement to call Anderson's bluff.

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.

The WWE-NJPW feud over Karl Anderson may have a happy ending.

Excluding the fact that, again, Anderson was getting nicked in the nards by a girl on RAW to the point where he had to go to the in-house doctors and was followed close behind by Gallows, who was similarly pummeled in the privates, NJPW's desire for professionalism is admirable; the promotion has long been lauded for their long-term storytelling and even if the Never Openweight Championship doesn't exactly have the same prestige as, say, the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, it's admirable to want to book it with the same respect. If Anderson doesn't want to take it seriously, then someone else, like Hikuleo, will.

“I’m not vacating anything,” Anderson wrote. “I’m the greatest Never Openweight Champion of all time. I’ll defend it on my time ….. get with my booking agent The Big LG I’ll see ya then Hikuleo, that’s Too Sweet.”

Oh no, is this situation rapidly devolving into the NJPW-WWE iteration of the “Bidding War of 2024?” or will fans be treated to a Tessa Blanchard-like situation where they have to buy a belt off of eBay to replace the stolen strap that a former champion refuses to return?

Fortunately, according to Fightful Select, all might be right between the three parties, as WWE is reportedly “fine” with Anderson returning to NJPW with Gallows to properly drop the strap, as you can read below via an excerpt from 411 Mania.

RECOMMENDED (Article Continues Below)
Tama Tonga with Luke Gallows on his left and Karl Anderson on his right with the NXT logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

The blacked-out silhouette of NJPW’s Hikuleo with a text bubble reading “I’m not sure there will ever be a right time” with the WWE logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Karl Anderson, WWE, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Good Brothers,

Matty Breisch ·

According to Fightful, while there is no update on what’s going on with the title there are and have been active plans for Anderson to work dates in NJPW. NJPW is said to expect Anderson to work additional dates and WWE is okay with this. It also notes that NJPW knew Anderson and Gallows were heading back to WWE in August which is when the deal was worked out. According to those with knowledge of the matter, things are “fine” between NJPW, WWE, and Anderson.

Welp, there you go; all is right in the professional wrestling world, and fans will soon be afforded the rare WWE-NJPW cross-over – for the sake of fun, let's hope New Japan pulls a switch-a-roo and gives Anderson an opponent like “Switchblade” Jay White so “Machine Gun” can get his “I'm sorry, I love you” moment with the Bullet Club.