Del Rio on the AAA Title controversy, ROH Title to be defended in Japan, WWE Tribute lineup and press, another NXT taping set, Total Diva update, more GFW dates set, Punk update, Sting injury note, TNA World Title update, Interview with Bryan, and Questions on WCW then vs. WWE now, Raw ratings, Stardust, and a Diva Rumble

Alberto Del Rio told Mexican media he wasn't allowed to drop the AAA Championship in Mexico because the initial date he was advertised for was canceled. WWE did not allow Del Rio to work an alternate date in order to lose the championship, so the title was vacated. Either way, there's nothing to be done about it now. Both sides have moved on.

The ROH World Championship is expected to be defended on Jan. 4 in Tokyo, with the winner of Lethal vs. Styles at Final Battle taking on Michael Elgin. This show is NJPW's equivalent of WrestleMania, so it makes sense to have a big title match then.

Taped for the Dec. 23 Tribute to the Troops special:- Usos/Dudleys/Kane/Ryback/Reigns/Ambrose vs. LoN/Wyatts
- Rusev vs. Swagger
- Ryback vs. Owens
- Team BAD/Paige vs. Charlotte/Alicia/Becky/Brie
- Mark Henry vs. Bo Dallas

I look forward to those matches.

Everything else from yesterday is after the break.
There will be another NXT taping at Full Sail on Jan. 27. It'll be interesting to see what they do leading into WM32. I'll be surprised if there isn't a big main roster debut after Mania.

Mandy Rose, formerly Tough Enough's Amanda, was at this week's WWE TV tapings. I wonder what the timetable is for her to be an actual Diva.

GFW has set two live events for the Northeast in January. They're also looking to do another Grand Slam tour at some point in 2016. I really wonder what next year holds for them. A U.S. TV deal remains elusive at this point, although they've taped a full "season" of shows that would be ready to roll out if they get clearance.

WWE got press for Tribute to the Troops. WWE has been doing good things for people in the military for years now.

C.M. Punk shut down any talk of returning to WWE. That ship has pretty much sailed.

Sting stated he suffered whiplash at Night of Champions, and received a diagnosis of cervical spinal stenosis. It's possible he'll need a big surgery. I think at this point it might be too risky to get back in the ring, even if surgery is successful. He had a match at WrestleMania, and one for the WWE Title. That's more than a lot of wrestlers can say.

Update: Sting is expected to be at WM32 in some form. He could just put someone in the Scorpion Deathlock that night to call it a career.

TNA will determine their next World Champion on their Jan. 5 debut on Pop. EC3 will face Lashley in one semi-final match, and Matt Hardy will face Eric Young in the other semi-final. The winners will face off in the main event that night, live. TNA's action has been really good in this tournament, and I expect those four to knock it out of the park in the first show of 2016.

Daniel Bryan promoted WWE in Singapore. I'm starting to think they're just going to wait his contract out like they did with Christian. They definitely don't want to announce one of their biggest stars won't come back to the ring unless they absolutely have to. There's still hope for him returning, but there's nothing to suggest he'll be cleared soon.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I definitely think the announcing on the main roster shows is often atrocious. It definitely feels like the commentators' "witty banter" is more important than what the people in the ring are doing. That's one of the biggest problems WWE has in 2015. Why should we take what's going on in the ring as important if the announcers care more about making forced pop culture/sports analogies and painful Dad jokes?

2. I'm surprised Dave isn't blaming Vince for those other shows coming back. Usually he tries to tie everything back to how terrible old Vince is ruining everything.

3. There hasn't been anything to suggest NBCU is upset enough to make changes, so no, it doesn't look like things are bad enough yet in the ratings department. Quality is subjective, of course. There's no indication of Vince being somehow removed from Creative, so slipping below three million for one week wasn't enough for him to let someone else take the wheel.

4. I suspect the character will continue to be weird, and maybe even get weirder. It doesn't look like "Cody" will return anytime soon.

5. I think that might dilute the big Rumble. It could be worth a try, but I'm not automatically in favor of it.

More wrestling tomorrow.