With New Japan Pro Wrestling's marquee card of the year, Wrestle Kingdom 17, just over the horizon, fans will finally be afforded the biggest treat of the year: WWE's Karl Anderson back in a “King of Sports” wrestling ring.
… okay, maybe seeing “Bright Lights” back in an NJPW ring in a singles match against Tama Tonga of the Guerillas of Destiny isn't exactly the most prolific contest imaginable, especially on a card that features Ospreay-Omega II and White-Okada VI, but it is prolific because it marks the incredibly rare occasion where a WWE performer is allowed to work a Pay-Per-View championship match, let alone any sort of match, period, for a “rival” company.
But how, you may ask, did it come to be? Well, according to Rocky Romero, the unofficial United States liason for NJPW, Anderson asked WWE to let him properly drop his NEVER Openweight Championship before leaving the promotion, and even if it got “shaky,” they ultimately let it happen, as he explained in an interview with Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.
“The whole thing was shaky, in some kind of way,” Romero said. “Not that WWE was going to go against what they had originally promised Karl, but it’s a big company, they’re super busy, and right off the bat, it got a little scary because he was announced for Osaka to defend the title against Hikuleo and it also happened to be the same day as the Saudi show. It was like, ‘Oh, they just invested a bunch of money back into these guys and they just brought them back on TV, are they going to let Karl go to Japan? Of course not.’ I understand, on the New Japan side, if it was flipped, it would have went that way as well. Kudos to WWE for letting him finish out the dates. He defended the title against Hikuleo in Japan in December and now it’s road to the Tokyo Dome, it’s him and Tama Tonga, a year in the making almost, I’m pumped. Thank you, WWE, for letting it happen.”
“So much stress,” Romero said. “The whole ride was very bumpy. I think everybody’s intentions were good. Karl’s intentions were good, Gallows' intentions were good, and to make good on everything they had already promised to appear on some these shows. Obviously, Karl is a champion. Everyone’s intentions were good, it was just, how do we get there? That’s always the sketchy part with professional wrestling because there are so many moving parts. WWE is a huge company, and with the regime change, you don’t know what was going to happen. Anything could happen. Vince (McMahon) could come back in power, nobody knows. Obviously, Triple H now being in charge, we can see Shinsuke Nakamura going to NOAH to work against Great Muta and Anderson working New Japan, it does seem like there is a complete change in how they feel about working with other companies or letting talent go and do really cool stuff outside of WWE. It all helps the product. In Japan, New Japan is the market. Everywhere else in the world, WWE has very strong business. It doesn’t hurt WWE by letting Karl Anderson or Shinsuke come over to this market where they are not as strong and letting them get…it’s like free advertising for WWE.”
On paper, it's really hard to argue with Romero's thought process, as allowing performers like the “Machine Gun” or Shinsuke Nakamura, who aren't exactly Roman Reigns or The Usos, to come over to Japan, perform great matches for another audience, and get fans invested should only result in more eyes on the WWE product, which, considering Paul “Triple H” Levesque's desire to brand out NXT to other markets, could prove incredibly valuable moving forward.
Romero also thanked Kenny Omega for bringing AEW and WWE together.
Speaking of people who are responsible for NJPW's most inclusive Wrestle Kingdom yet, Romero would be remiss not to mention Kenny Omega, who was equally helpful in getting AEW and NJPW on the same page, according to an interview on The Battleground Podcast back in November.
“Well, Tony's [Khan] always been cool,” Romero said via Fightful. “He's always, I feel, been open to the idea, right? Then you have Jericho, who is somebody who's always wanted to make it happen ever since he went over to New Japan to wrestle Tanahashi. That was kind of the beginning of it; Tony giving the okay to bring the AEW belt. That was a thing. So, it kind of started with Jericho. Obviously, Moxley being a guy who's important to both companies and Moxley always wanting to do something and kind of being that main focal point because he wasn't mixed up into the drama of what was going on between AEW and New Japan and wrestlers. Then, the third big component I feel like, besides Tony, was obviously Kenny. Kenny being a part of it. Kenny was one of the ones who reached out first and just said, ‘Hey, I know Moxley and KENTA have this thing,' and obviously he had a big rivalry with Moxley as well, so Moxley being the focal point. Kenny and New Japan had their issues as he left New Japan to join AEW, so that was a big step in the right direction. Obviously, Kenny is incredible at what he does. Literally one of the best. He's a true pro and to see the grand picture, he was the one who helped facilitate that amongst, at least the EVP's.”
While only time will tell if Omega and Anderson interact in any way at Wrestle Kingdom, maybe with a surprise appearance by the one and only Sour Boy, the fact that both are on the same card despite which Khan signs their checks is pretty incredible nonetheless.
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