Big Update On Karl Anderson's NJPW Future Following WWE Return

Last night's episode of "WWE Raw" saw the return of the Good Brothers, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, to WWE. This could be construed as somewhat awkward, given that Anderson is the current NEVER Openweight Champion of New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and had been scheduled to defend the title against Hikuleo at NJPW Battle Autumn in Osaka on November 5, the same day WWE Crown Jewel is scheduled in Saudi Arabia.

As of right now, however, it seems that won't be an issue. In an update of the card on New Japan's website early Tuesday morning, Anderson vs. Hikuleo was still listed as one of the three announced matches for Battle Autumn, indicating the match will still take place, along with Will Ospreay vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP United States Championship and Master Wato and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Taiji Ishimori vs. Hiromu Takahashi and El Desperado in tag team action.

Should Anderson's title defense remain on the card, it would represent a notable change in policy from WWE, which has not traditionally allowed talents holding titles in other promotions to drop said titles before joining. One of the more recent examples was Alberto Del Rio, who re-joined WWE in 2015 while still holding the AAA Mega Championship. Though it was initially believed Del Rio would return to drop the title, he never did, and the belt was later vacated.

Along with Gallows, Anderson's return to "Raw" last night came in the service of an old friend, as the duo joined forces with AJ Styles to help the latter combat The Judgment Day. The connections don't end there, as Judgment Day is led by Finn Balor, himself an old friend of Gallows and Anderson from their days in the Bullet Club.