NJPW name to XFL?, assorted wrestling press, Interviews with Cody/Moon/Bucks/Hogan/Thunder/WOW head/Devi/Sasha, more ROH matches, 90s WWF name returning, Flair speaking event, another WWE return set, ROH re-signs tag competitor, Rush-ROH update, Maria on release rumors, new Network content, EVOLVE/Raw/NXT event notes, WOS title change, and Questions on ROH streaming on Sinclair, WOW being taped, Eva leaving WWE, Benoit in WWE books, and what makes a good Rumble

NJPW's Tanga Loa teased playing in the XFL. That's a news story I would have never seen coming five years ago. Loa wrestled in WWE as Camacho.

Mick Foley closed down his Instagram account. As with any promotional vehicle, if it's not worth the time investment to fully make use of it, there's no sense using social media just to use it.

Diamond Dallas Page promoted his new book on Coast to Coast Radio.

Cody talked to ESPN about AEW:
- There are definitely underutilized current wrestlers who could add to wrestlers we haven't seen before in AEW.

- History is definitely repeating itself with a Runnels booking a rival to Vince McMahon.

- I'm very interested to see how AEW will treat talent differently from other groups.

- I really hope they don't go overboard with the wins/losses/rankings thing. That can get in the way of good wrestling stories.

- I love the charity idea. He's swinging for the fences.

Sasha Banks is on Edge and Christian's latest podcast.

Ember Moon was on Busted Open Radio. I appreciate the show putting those names over. It's great to see a bigger variety of women being used in wrestling these days.

ROH's January 24 HonorClub event has added:
- Jeff Cobb vs. NJPW trainee Clark Connors
- Juice Robinson and David Finlay vs. NJPW trainees Alex Coughlin and Karl Fredericks in Round One of Tag Wars

ROH's January 25 HonorClub event has added:
- Coast 2 Coast vs. Cheeseburger and Eli Isom in Round One of Tag Wars
- The Bouncers vs. The Boys in Round One of Tag Wars
- Colt Cabana and Willie Mack vs. Kenny King and a partner of his choosing in Round One of Tag Wars. This confirms Mack isn't signed to an Impact contract.
- The Briscoes, Shane Taylor, and Silas Young vs. Juice Robinson, David Finlay, Mark Haskins, and Tracy Williams
- Villain Enterprises vs. NJPW trainees Alex Coughlin, Karl Fredericks, and Clark Connors.

The Young Bucks discussed AEW and more:
- I agree there was nothing else for them to accomplish in ROH. That's true of a good number of talents out there, and I hope AEW gives opportunities for fresh directions.

- Wrestling would be in a very different place if the Bucks had quit.

- It's WAY too early to discuss AEW as a WWE competitor as far as yearly revenue and the like, but they will definitely be seeking the same talents and fans.

- It's great to see the Bucks speak highly of the WWE experience, etc. instead of burying the company.

- Certainly television isn't the force it was even ten years ago, but there's still a LOT of money and a lot of eyeballs there. It's still the most important barometer of a successful wrestling company.

Mantaur will work Joey Janela's WrestleMania weekend event. I love this kind of craziness.

Ric Flair and Jimmy Hart will do a speaking event in Georgia on February 16. That should be wild.

Hulk Hogan spoke to People magazine about returning to WWE. I love how he still pitched a match after saying he can't wrestle anymore.

Tye Dillinger is expected to return to WWE in a few weeks. There was speculation he was retiring after a recent Twitter post.

Shaheem Ali has officially signed a new ROH deal, so we'll be seeing more of Coast 2 Coast going forward.

Rush will begin at ROH once his work visa is approved. I'd expect him to be a top name there given the process of signing him.

Bandido has his first ROH T-shirt available.

Thunder Rosa discussed becoming a U.S. citizen. That will certainly open doors for her.

Maria Kanellis addressed rumors of her asking for her WWE release. I intentionally didn't cover these rumors because they hadn't been substantiated. Stories like this are why wrestling journalism has such a bad name.

Minor league hockey team the Milwaukee Admirals will feature Jim Ross, Jeff Jarrett, Al Snow, and Gail Kim on January 26. That's pretty cool.

New Jersey's Horror Con and Film Festival will feature Jake Roberts and Velvet Sky from March 29 through March 31.

Albuquerque Comic Con will feature Kane, Goldust, and Lita this weekend.

Jim Ross' latest podcast has WOW's David McLane and Tessa Blanchard.

WOW's Jeanie Buss promoted the venture.

Alexa Bliss will be signing at Royal Rumble AXXESS.

WWE is doing a Royal Rumble AXXESS sweepstakes.

NXT's Kavita Devi spoke to The Asian Age.

Sasha Banks discussed Ronda Rousey and Bayley. I'm glad Trish and Lita helped them out like that.

Bret Hart has launched a Pro Wrestling Tees store.

Edge and Christian's WWE Network show will have a new episode after Raw.

"WWE 24:WrestleMania 34" will debut after Royal Rumble.

At EVOLVE 119:
- Fabian Aichner defeated Darby Allin
- The Street Profits defeated The Skulk to retain the EVOLVE Tag Team Championship
- Johnny Gargano and AR Fox defeated Austin Theory and Josh Briggs in the main event. Gargano was attacked by Theory after the match, with Theory teasing replacing Johnny at Takeover: Phoenix.

Kay Lee Ray lost the WOS Women's Championship to Viper at WOS' January 18 live event. Ray was of course recently in the crowd at NXT UK Takeover, and is almost certainly heading in once her WOS commitments in. What's interesting is Viper is also being discussed as joining NXT UK. We'll see how the rest of the tour plays out.

At Raw's January 18 live event in Texas:
- Dolph Ziggler worked the show, losing in a triple threat to Finn Balor. Drew McIntyre was also involved. So, if he is leaving at the end of the month, he's at least being used for some final dates.
- Kurt Angle made a surprise appearance, losing to Baron Corbin. I can't say I saw that result coming!

At NXT's January 18 live event in Florida:
- Marina Shafir worked her first live event since December 9. She teamed with Shayna Baszler in a four-team elimination match. Kairi Sane and Io Shirai won. The other teams were Aliyah/Vanessa Borne and Mia Yim/Xia Li.
- Ricochet and Kacy Catanzaro defeated Rhea Ripley and Shane Thorne, so those pairings could make their way to NXT TV.
- Humberto Carrillo and Raul Mendoza lost to Roderick Strong and Bobby Fish in an NXT Tag Team Championship match. That's notable both for Carrillo recently switching to 205 Live and for Strong and Fish teaming to defend the championship.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. That feels like a missed opportunity on Sinclair's part. It would benefit ROH to have their weekly show there.

2. That's probably for the best given the experience level of a lot of those involved and the costs of going live each week compared to taping multiple episodes at a time.

3. Eva was seemingly just hired for reality shows and the like. It was clear she wasn't going to be one of their best wrestlers, so it was something of a matter of time before she was either exclusively used in a non-wrestling role or released.

4. He hasn't been erased from WWE history, since you can still see him on WWE Network and such. They just, wisely, don't do anything to promote him or sell any match compilations. That's one of few instances they acknowledge his existence.

5. Generally my favorite Rumbles involve some of the following: surprise/unexpected entrants, combinations of workers we don't normally get to see, good workers lasting a significant amount of time, someone racking up multiple eliminations, some comedy spots, and things that "break the formula" like someone bringing in weapons/brawling outside the ring/cutting promos while the clock winds down.

More wrestling tomorrow.