An official announcement from New Japan Pro-Wrestling was released regarding Karl Anderson’s absence from the Battle Autumn event on November 5.
Anderson was supposed to defend the NEVER Openweight Championship on November 5 at the Battle Autumn event. The return o Anderson and Luke Gallows to the WWE caused plans to shift, and they were later scheduled for a six-man tag team match at WWE Crown Jewel.
Gallows and Anderson had previously posted a video stating that Anderson would not be defending the title against Hikuleo as scheduled.
NJPW has issued a new statement saying they had no choice but to cancel the planned match:
“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 apologise 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 apologise for the inconvenience and disappointment caused by this matter.”
Updated Battle Autumn Card
– Yujiro Takahashi vs. Hikuleo
– IWGP US Championship: Will Ospreay (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito
– IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships: United Empire (Francesco Akira & TJP) (c) vs. Titan & BUSHI
– Taiji Ishimori, Master Wato, El Desperado, and Hiromu Takahashi compete in a wild card tag match
– Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) vs. TBA
– NJPW World TV Title Tournament Semifinals