Karl Anderson Didn’t Want To Burn Any Bridges With NJPW

Karl Anderson returned to WWE back in the October 10th episode of Monday Night RAW, following a two-year hiatus. However, he didn’t tie up all of his loose ends outside the company before that. The fact that he is the NEVER Openweight Champion in NJPW made things incredibly complicated for both WWE and NJPW. Thankfully, the two companies were able to work out a deal in the end. Karl Anderson had good reason for wanting this deal, because he didn’t want to burn any bridges with NJPW.

The O.C. faced off against The Judgment Day at WWE Crown Jewel on November 5th. However, Anderson was previously booked for a title defense at NJPW Battle Autumn on the same day. In the end, Anderson didn’t actually defend his title for NJPW, but he wasn’t stripped of it either.

Karl Anderson will be returning to NJPW to defend the NEVER Openweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 17 on January 4th. While speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted that Karl Anderson didn’t want to burn any bridges with NJPW.

“New Japan plans are booked far, far, far in advance and they hate to change it. Sometimes they have to but they hate doing that. And he was figured into their plans, and when he left for WWE, he wanted to at least continue through the Tokyo Dome (Wrestle Kingdom), or continue his booking plans and not burn the bridge that he had promised them. So he was allowed to do that.”

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It is not known whether Anderson will end up losing the NEVER Openweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 17, but that seems to be the logical choice at the moment. We will have to wait and see whether Anderson will have more appearances in NJPW after Wrestle Kingdom 17.

Are you looking forward to Anderson defending his title in NJPW? Sound off in the comments!