Update on Ezekiel Jackson, Flair appearance, Interviews with Cesaro/Titus/AJ Styles/Ambrose, NXT talent works live events, more on Booker's second book, former WWE Champ back at the Rumble?, injured NXT star returns, Foley looks at Bryan angle, TNA leaving Universal Studios again, Impact audience, pictures of Daniel "Wyatt" and Questions on chanting ECW, EC3 and WWE holiday shows

Ezekiel Jackson gave an update on his status. Dude's JACKED in that picture. I think it's notable he was at home for 10 months where theoretically WWE could have used him but didn't. He might only have one more shot to impress management enough to make it back on TV once he recovers. I hope he'll be ready for it.

Ric Flair talked about the Carolina Panthers adopting his famous catchphrase for their games. That was a nice promo by Flair.

Antonio Cesaro had a Q-and-A before Old School Raw. I can see him being really successful in WWE in the years to come with his experience and work ethic.

Titus O'Neil talked about his journey to WWE and more. He continues to find a nice niche in the company.

Everything else from yesterday is after the break.

NXT's (Alexander) Rusev worked this weekend's main roster live events, making Zack Ryder submit. Rusev's another big foreign "hoss" in the vein of Umaga, Vladimir Kozlov, Sylvester Terkay, Ezekiel Jackson, etc. I hope he has enough charisma and skill to break out from that mold in time. There's room for all kinds of wrestlers in WWE, but that kind of gimmick seems to have a limited shelf life.

AJ Styles gave a big interview about working with TNA, ROH, and the possibility of going to WWE. Really good to hear his thoughts on everything. 2014 will be an interesting year for the wrestling business.

Here are details on Booker T's second book. I can't wait to read his thoughts on some moments in his career (the Invasion, feuding with HHH, etc).

Rob Van Dam has been announced as working an upcoming show for Booker T's wrestling promotion. There's speculation of this being a warmup for him returning to WWE for the Royal Rumble. If he does come back then, it could easily lead to him working WrestleMania season. I think RVD's got some good matches left in him, so I'm fine with him popping back in if some younger guys get the rub of working with him.

Dean Ambrose was interviewed before a live event. I definitely see the Roddy Piper comparison.

Cody Rhodes and "Gold Dust", as he's called in the article, met troops and others ahead of a recent show. Am I the only one who's a little disappointed Goldust didn't wear the face paint? That's kind of his thing. When kids go see "Santa Claus", he has to wear the beard and such. I miss when the little things like that were acknowledged.

NXT referee Dan Egler, formerly Rudy Charles in TNA, worked on WWE's live events this weekend. I'm sure that job's tougher than it looks.

NXT's Oliver Grey returned to the ring at a live event. He was formerly one of the tag team champions with Adrian Neville.

Mick Foley talked about how Daniel Bryan being paired with the Wyatt Family might be a positive thing. I like his viewpoint and still don't see Bryan as being "buried". He could easily come to his senses on his way to winning the Rumble, which would lead to him beating the Wyatts and eventually becoming WWE Champion. I don't know if Bryan vs. Orton or Bryan vs. HBK (or HHH) is the better move. There are a number of interesting ideas for the road to WrestleMania:
1. Batista costs Orton the title against Bryan, leading to Batista vs. Orton as well as Bryan defending the title against HHH.

2. HHH questions whether Orton can really beat Bryan "clean", and uses Batista to "check" Orton leading to HHH being champion going into Mania, where he'd lose to Bryan in a big Mania moment. They'd still get (heel) Batista vs. (face) Orton, though you'd think it'd make more sense to have the returning movie star as a face.

3. Bryan vs. HBK at Mania, eventually leading to Bryan being champion and facing HHH at future PPV(s). Maybe Bryan wins the title at Extreme Rules or the next PPV, and finally gets HHH at Summerslam '14. Theoretically Bryan feuds with Kane or someone between winning the title and facing HHH at a marquee event.

I'm sure there are others, but by no means is it impossible to "save" Bryan's push.

TNA has been unable to secure any further taping dates at Universal Studios for 2014, due to their sound stages being booked for other productions. TNA will tape Genesis and the following episode in Huntsville, AL, before taping a month's worth of shows during their UK tour. So, they've got some time to set up some new tapings in other markets. Hopefully this won't be too much of a setback for them.

Impact's audience on Thursday was 1.13 million viewers, notably down from the previous week. It's going to be a bumpy road with some of TNA's top pushed names gone from TV (some maybe permanently). No Hogan, no Styles, no Hardy (for now) and possibly no Sting? Them's hard times, daddeh. But they've got to cut expenses to survive.

Here are some photos of "Daniel Wyatt" at a recent live event. That's pretty cool looking. I don't think this is a sign of WWE being incompetent and trying to kill Bryan's momentum by making him heel. I don't see it as much different from Cena in Nexus, definitely not a permanent change to the "dark side". I'm rather flabbergasted that more people don't see this.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Extreme Reunion is kind of a takeoff of ECW nostalgia, so there's that. Some people really hang on to the old ECW era. Or maybe they're getting anxious because Ezekiel Jackson never defended the ECW Title there.

Nothing to add to 2.

3. My guess is there might not be enough demand for it, or the people they're pitching it to don't think it will draw, etc.

4. WWE must have found out he was actually Dixie Carter's nephew and fired him. As much as I liked the Chicks and America character, I like this incarnation of Hutter as well.

5. It'd be interesting for WWE to do a special new year's party live event. I don't know exactly what that would involve, but it could be cool.

More wrestling tomorrow.