WWE Superstar Karl Anderson was interviewed by the Indiana Gazette recently to promote a Live Event. He was asked about his time in New Japan Pro Wrestling, how it compares to the WWE, and his advice to younger performers on how to make it in the biggest promotion on Earth.
Not surprisingly, Anderson says that the biggest difference between WWE and New Japan is the travel schedule. There's a lot more of it in WWE, but at least you're in your home country most of the time, and you get to see your family every week. “What’s cool about the WWE now is you get to be home weekly. … I have three kids and I’m married, and so to be away from them for a month at a time, sometimes six weeks at a time, was pretty intense. It’s busy, of course, a lot of travel. But my kids really appreciate the WWE. They’re happy to have me home weekly. It’s just been really cool, man. It’s all been good.”
Both WWE and New Japan are end-goal, dream-job type destinations for most professional wrestlers, and since Anderson has wrestled both territories, he gets a lot of requests for advice on how to make it there.
“I get a lot of guys asking me, ‘What do I do? How do I get to the WWE, or how do I get to Japan?’ The only answer I have is, you just have to stick with it. You just have to stick with it and be confident in yourself, listen to everybody and you just have to work hard. It’s all I ever thought of. I’ve watched wrestling ever since I was four or five years old, so it’s been in brewing in me for forever. Every time I get on television, I’m just going to go out there and be me, be what I’ve always do and just be what got me to the WWE. Being a good wrestler, being charismatic and just doing what I do. The cream rises to the top at the end of the day."
Anderson and his tag team partner Luke Gallows left NJPW in early 2016 and debuted in WWE shortly thereafter, becoming ensconced near the top of the tag division since day one. They've had several shots at the Raw Tag Team Titles, but have yet to win them.
