NJPW orders Anderson to either defend or vacate NEVER Openweight title

[Liz]

New Japan Pro-Wrestling has ordered Karl Anderson, it's NEVER Openweight champion, to either defend his title on the November 5 show or else vacate the title and return it to the promotion immediately.

The request was done via a statement released yesterday posted on social media and the NJPW official website.

NJPW said that the booking was made through the appropriate channels and with Anderson's expressed approval despite both Gallows and Anderson saying the contrary in a video posted last week.

The statement said that NJPW has also attempted to negotiate with Anderson for the past several days but there was no response from his side.

"New Japan Pro-Wrestling holds its champions to the highest standards of professionalism, and sincerely apologizes to fans for any disappointment or inconvenience caused by this matter," the promotion said.

Anderson won the NEVER Openweight title from Tara Tonga in June of this year at Dominion 6.12 in Osaka-jo Hall in Osaka, Japan.

Meanwhile, his opponent Hikuleo wrote on Twitter that Anderson doesn't need to vacate his title and he'll wait.

"I'm not vacating anything. I'm the greatest #NeverOpenweightChampion of all time," Anderson wrote. "I'll defend it on my time...get with my booking agent @The_BigLG. I'll see ya then @Hiku_Leo. That's #TooSweet."