I’m still surprised that, even 2 years from now, they let Karl Anderson wrestle in NJPW until WK17, while still in contract with WWE. (And yes, my 10 cents say that, there’s still a chance that a Nakamura v. Tanahashi match MIGHT be possible.)

This was for the NEVER Openweight Championship, which Karl Anderson still held back then after being signed with WWE in October 2023 (he won the title in June) and should've defend the title on October against Hikuleo (Tala Tonga). But Crown Jewel happened and, therefore, he didn't commit what was the agreed deal with the NJPW staff. So, either Karl commits the deal as champion to defend it back in Japan, or vacate it. Karl, then turned this shoot into a storyline, telling that his "booker" (Doc Gallows) decides when he wants to defend his title.

Additionally, WWE acknowledged his reign by Michael Cole in one of those matches in WWE RAW. And on January 4th, he compete while wearing The OC t-shirt, and lost his title against Tama Tonga.

Surprisingly, this is the first time that WWE and AEW are in the same roof (FTR and Kenny Omega are there as well).

So, I think there's no issue for Nakamura to come to challenge Tanahashi, at least for me. Despite that the reports that WWE won't wrestle any talent whenever AEW is still around. Additionally, it's really surprising as well that NJPW did not let Karl abandon the NEVER title after signing with WWE. Because, normally, WWE or NJPW would tell the wrestler to abandon the title after signing with them (Stephanie Vaquer for example, when she abandoned the STRONG Women's Championship and CMLL Women's Championship).

Also, WWE is open for partnership with other wrestling promotions now. So, even if it's just a one-off match, I think it's okay for both parties involved as long as a decent deal and agreement met with another. So, yeah, that's my 10 cents that there's a possibility that NJPW and WWE would meet again at the center for another collab, despite NJPW has a deal with AEW.