Tessa responds to controversy, Qatar event to stream live, WWE trademarks team name, Johnson honored, Interviews with Cain/AJ/Aichner+Barthel/Charlotte+Andrade/Elias/Kane, assorted wrestling press, MLW planning big event, MLW injury, AAA names working MLW, possible Rumble returns, Free Enterprise main event, ROH team splits, WOH tryout, another NJPW show on FITE, another NJPW name at SCOH, WWE name signs new deal, Flair note, live event and dark match notes, and Questions on Billy Gunn using that name, Gunn as a singles star, AEW's tributes, and the busy WrestleMania weekend

Tessa Blanchard released a brief statement refuting allegations of using a racial slur years back. I strongly doubt multiple people made up incidents just to defame her. We'll see if anything more comes of this.

- Allysin Kay responded to the statement, reasserting that the incident in question happened.

Qatar Pro Wrestling's SuperSlam 2 will air live on FITE. Matt Striker and Joe Dombrowski will be the announce team.

WWE has trademarked the team name Harlem Heat. There continues to be speculation of that duo wrestling there. That could be an attraction for the next Saudi event if not WrestleMania.

Booker T. discussed Rocky Johnson on his latest podcast.

Cain Velasquez spoke to Cultaholic about Royal Rumble and more. I'm surprised WWE passed on using him when he was previously interested.

Goldberg was on the most recent episode of "The Goldbergs."

Batista will be grand marshal for a January 25 Tampa festival.

R-Truth is on Jerry Lawler's latest podcast.

MLW is working on a major Hawaii event.

MLW's Zeda Zhang is injured.

MLW's February 1 event will have AAA involvement in addition to LA Park and El Hijo del LA Park.

Jinder Mahal and Velveteen Dream are scheduled to be at Royal Rumble weekend. That does not confirm either man will be in action, but both are available if they are medically cleared to return.

The Rock paid tribute to his late father. Powerful message.

AJ Styles looked back on his WWE debut. He called Impact "a little place in Orlando." That's cold!

Imperium's Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel promoted NXT UK.

Charlotte Flair and Andrade were interviewed by TalkSport and Cultaholic. I'm glad there's no rush to put them together on-screen.

Elias did local press before Smackdown.

Kane spoke before Smackdown.

Free Enterprise will be headlined by PCO and Marty Scurll vs. Rush and Nick Aldis, meaning the ROH World Champion and NWA World Champion are in the same match.

ROH's Coast 2 Coast team has apparently split up. It was probably time for a change for both.

ROH has announced a Women of Honor tryout combine for March 27 and March 28. At least one participant will get a developmental contract. Delirious, Jonathan Gresham, Will Ferrara, Angelina Love, and Sumie Sakai will all be on hand. I'm glad to see them taking growing that division seriously. My mind is blown that they're not using their Stardom connection, but hopefully that changes with Marty Scurll in charge.

NJPW's February 9 event will air on FITE. The show will feature Tetsuya Naito vs. Kenta for both of Naito's championships, as well as Jon Moxley defending the United States Championship against Minoru Suzuki.

Kenta is set for Supercard of Honor, his first ROH appearance since 2009. That show's profile continues to grow.

Nikki Bella will appear on Nickelodeon's "The Substitute" on January 31.

Kalisto has signed a new multi-year WWE contract. That's a little surprising given how little he's used. Hopefully things change for him.

Ric Flair will participate on Chris Jericho's cruise, but not for the entirety of the trip.

The Fiend has a new bobblehead. I imagine he's getting quite a bit of merchandise royalties these days.

WWE made a video tribute to Rocky Johnson.

At EVOLVE 143:
- NXT's Rik Bugez lost to Joe Gacy
- NXT's Indi Hartwell defeated Brandi Lauren
- NXT's Denzel Dejournette lost to Adrian Alanis
- NXT's Santana Garett defeated Avery Taylor. Avery was offered an EVOLVE contract, but Brandi Lauren ripped it up.
- NXT's Dexter Lumis defeated Curt Stallion
- NXT's Brendan Vink defeated AR Fox, then chokeslammed Bobby Flaco before leaving when The Skulk entered the ring.

Before Smackdown, Mustafa Ali defeated Drew Gulak.

After Smackdown, The Fiend beat Daniel Bryan to retain the Universal Championship.

At NXT's January 17 Florida live event:
- Jaxson Ryker competed for the first time since December 14, beating Cal Bloom
- Mike Kanellis debuted in NXT, teaming with Tony Nese to defeat Mohammed Fahim and Nick Ogarelli. This was Kanellis' first match since September 24. It was Nese's first live event since September 29.
- Chelsea Green worked her first live event since December 6, defeating Kayden Carter.
- Kacy Catanzaro worked her first live event since July 19, defeating Vanessa Borne.

At Raw's January 17 Louisiana live event:
- Cedric Alexander worked his first live event since November 29, losing to Drew McIntyre
- Kairi Sane worked for the first time since TLC, teaming with Asuka and Sarah Logan in a loss to Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, and Natalya. This was Logan's first live event since December 6.
- Liv Morgan worked her first match since July 16, teaming with Rusev in a win over Bobby Lashley and Lana. This was Lana's first match since WrestleMania.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Looks like WWE didn't anticipate an AEW popping up and using him with that name. WWE is almost always on the ball with that kind of thing.

2. It just seemed like they always put him in tag teams. Once you become known for a certain role and being good at it, it's hard to change.

3. There are definitely a number of opportunities to do something similar in other markets to potentially increase attendance. They should revisit the concept.

4. It certainly provides a lot of variety and gives a lot of fans opportunities to see niche events. Ultimately it's only too much if the events aren't profitable.

Nothing to add to 5.

More wrestling tomorrow.