Last night on Monday Night RAW, fans were surprised to see the return of Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows to WWE. Released from the company in 2020, Anderson & Gallows were most recently seen as part of the Impact Wrestling & New Japan Pro Wrestling rosters. Karl Anderson would even claim his first singles gold in NJPW, winning the NEVER Openweight Championship – and making a successful title defence last month against Hiroshi Tanahashi. With his WWE return, his reign was put into question – but it seems his next title defence is still set to happen.
Karl Anderson Was Not Stripped Of His Title, Match With Hikule’o Is Still Being Promoted
Earlier today, New Japan Pro Wrestling held a scheduled press conference, addressing the upcoming tournament for the NJPW World Television Championship and to announce matches for Wrestle Kingdom 17. During this, it would have been easy to announce that Karl Anderson would be unable to defend the NEVER Openweight Championship, but this was not the case. This leads us to believe that WWE will be allowing Anderson to make his next defence against Hikule’o.
While many might attribute this to the recent changes in management, even under Vince McMahon – most wrestlers would finish up any previously booked dates. This was to ensure that bridges weren’t burnt with other companies, and with Triple H now in charge – that isn’t changing. The WWE schedule has become more flexible, with only TV days and weekend live events happening outside of major events.
More Companies Working Together Is Best For Business
If Anderson is to retain against Hikule’o, that’s when this situation would potentially become interesting. WWE has historically not built proper working relationships with outside companies, but that might change with the recent changes in management. Nick Khan was trying to get a relationship started with NJPW, but talks fizzled out. This might be another chance to work together, giving NJPW chances to work with WWE & AEW going forward.
The more freedom talent have to move around the world and bring fans big matches is ultimately what is best for business. If we can see the talent of WWE & NJPW work together – it just opens up great chances for both companies, and gives NJPW another place to send Young Lions on excursion.
Do you see NJPW working with WWE going forward? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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