NEVER Openweight Title bout is off.
A new update came from New Japan Pro-Wrestling concerning the NEVER Openweight Championship. The company noted that Karl Anderson’s scheduled title defense against Hikuleo is no longer taking place.
Anderson and Hikuleo’s match was going to happen at Battle Autumn on November 5th. Anderson is scheduled to team with AJ Styles and Luke Gallows against The Judgment Day (Finn Balor, Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio) at WWE Crown Jewel on 11/5. The Good Brothers returned to WWE on October 10th.
In place of the NEVER Openweight Title match, Hikuleo is now taking on Yujiro Takahashi in singles competition. The following is from NJPW1972.com:
Despite extensive efforts by New Japan Pro-Wrestling to negotiate with Karl Anderson regarding his scheduled match in Osaka at Battle Autumn on November 5, NJPW officials have still been met with no response, and have been left with no other option but to cancel the planned NEVER Openweight Championship match.
We apologize to fans who had been looking forward to watching Anderson wrestle.
After a challenge from Yujiro Takahashi, and at the direct request of Hikuleo, Osaka will now see a non-title special singles match between Yujiro Takahashi and Hikuleo.
NJPW holds its champions to the highest standard of professionalism. We deeply apologize for the inconvenience and disappointment caused by this matter.
A report from Fightful Select read that New Japan has been aware of Anderson and Gallows’ plans to return to WWE since August.
