Top U.S. names appear for NJPW, assorted wrestling press, Crusher vandal indicted, more on Walter issue, WWE shows set, Cody's Dynamite partner, Interview with PCO, Dynamite women's match, four WWE releases, WWE live event note, and Questions on AEW criticism, a Jaguars player joining AEW, lack of Final Battle hype, and WWE stars looking to work with past names

At NJPW's World Tag League Finals:
- Jon Moxley challenged Lance Archer to a Texas Death Match at Wrestle Kingdom 14 for the United States Championship.
- Dragon Lee appeared, challenging "Jushin" Thunder Liger. He will be using the name Ryu Lee due to CMLL owning his previous ring name. It doesn't appear this match will be at Wrestle Kingdom 14, but rather before it. Pretty cool opportunity for Lee.
- Chris Jericho cut a promo on Hiroshi Tanahashi ahead of their January 5 match.

Xavier Woods got press for continuing his digital endeavors while his Achilles tendon heals.

Minnesota's "Da Crusher" statue vandal pled guilty to criminal damage. He will pay $650 to Da Crusher Foundation and undergo 40 hours of community service. I hope this is the last time something like this happens from him or to the statue.

CNN covered WWE referee Jessika Carr's Smackdown debut.

Walter's boots were also stolen before EVOLVE 142. Rough night for him.

The January 24 Smackdown Live will come from Texas.

A WWE Supershow is set for February 9 in California.

Chris Jericho's Little Bit of The Bubbly was profiled in "Wine Spectator." 2019 has been a wild, wild ride.

Cody's Dynamite partner is QT Marshall, who has an 0-2 record in AEW.

PCO promoted Final Battle on Main Event Radio. Here are highlights:
- It's amazing he has a world title match at almost 52.

- PCO and Brody in NJPW could have been fun.

- It's odd to hear how much Sinclair supposedly values ROH given how little they spend on it.

Dynamite has added Emi Sakura vs. Big Swole. AEW has a variety of talents in each division, and they've featured a LOT of people.

WWE has announced the releases of:
- Sin Cara, who had publicly asked for his release recently and is likely heading to Combate Americas as an announcer.
- Luke Harper, who had also publicly asked for his release earlier this year. It's unknown what his next ambitions are.
- The Ascension, who had last competed for the company on April 8.
-- We'll see if any further releases are coming, given that Mike Kanellis has also asked out of his deal and there are some other names who have been inactive or infrequently used for some time. It's notable they made the cuts on Sunday, generally a slow news day before big things happen on Mondays.

Drew Gulak competed at his first live event since September 29 Sunday night, losing to Shorty G.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I assume this is about Dave Meltzer. He has had some criticisms of AEW since their genesis, notably cautioning them against making the promotion about "four-star matches," but it does seem like the honeymoon period is over and people are starting to have some expectations for the company to be what it was envisioned as. To be fair I think expectations were probably unrealistic at the start as far as the company putting on PPV quality events each week or what have you and every single talent/match being "elite."

2. Because people REALLY want AEW to succeed and change the wrestling business, particularly in offering an alternative to WWE's way of doing things.

3. That's hilarious. Honestly it's not an awful idea to see if some football stars would be better suited as wrestlers, although I don't think the AEW faithful will like that approach.

4. ROH has really been left in the dust by NXT, AEW, and NJPW running so many more prominent shows more frequently. Canceling Survival of the Fittest really hurt the build, for sure. I also see the criticism of the structure of their TV show as far as it being a hype vehicle for PPVs. 2020 is going to be a tough year if they keep going the way they're going. This weekend is a big chance for them to start some new directions, but I don't get the impression they're going to make any major changes behind-the-scenes to present a different product. We'll see.

5. In their positions, those matches would be much bigger than anything WWE could put together for them, since both men have already had prominent WrestleMania matches.

More wrestling tomorrow.