Rock on Lopez recap, former X-Division champion gone from TNA, updates on Abyss' injury, Scott Hall's health, and JR's future, Questions on TNA's ring, Chris Masters, Christian as champion, shaking up Smackdown, and an Edge return, Sting speaks again, as does a former member of the WWE Creative team, more press for R-Truth's angle, and Hogan/Flair making special appearances

Here's a rundown of The Rock's appearance on Lopez Tonight. Talk about your flashbacks with the Flex Kavana video.

Jay Lethal has parted ways with TNA. Something tells me that isn't the last we'll see of him. If he decides to stay in wrestling, WWE could very well scout him for FCW. They did sign the former Consequences Creed after all.  He finished up at the most recent Impact taping.

Update: It's believed that TNA decided to release Lethal, instead of him asking for it. I know that fairly new TNA employee Bruce Pritchard seemingly wasn't a fan of his, but there's no word on who made the call to cut him.

Abyss will need dental surgery to repair the damage done in a recent Impact match as a result of Rob Van Dam's springboard kick.

Kevin Nash wrote a harrowing blog about the condition of his good friend Scott Hall. I really hope Hall can turn his life around. I don't really consider myself a Hall fan, but I want the man to get his life back in check.

PWInsider.com has some new questions up, starting with one about TNA dropping the six-sided ring. I seem to remember Hogan or Bischoff saying it looked like a playpen or something. They have a point. It's pretty silly looking. I don't really see an advantage to having it other than it's different from what most wrestling companies use. I liked it for a while, but don't miss it now that it's gone. Almost every wrestler has trained predominantly in 4-sided rings. Why make them change it up and work differently in TNA just to look different?

For question #2, I like that Chris Masters has improved but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Having name value from a show that's online-exclusive doesn't mean much of anything to WWE or to the solid majority of fans who don't watch NXT. That being said, I like what I've seen of him lately and him being in the Intercontinental Title picture isn't TOO far-fetched.

I have more answers and news after the break. To start, could Christian be World Champion after Extreme Rules?

I think it could very well happen. It's a perfect opportunity to make him into a legitimate main eventer. It's similar to Rey Mysterio getting the big rub from Eddie Guerrero's passing, though obviously Edge retiring isn't the same as a wrestler's untimely demise. I think WWE can really elevate both Christian and Del Rio if they play their cards right here.

A nice segue to their 4th question. WWE absolutely has a big opportunity to build up some new stars in Edge's absence. I'm not saying that I'm glad he was forced to retire or anything, but there are a number of talents who could step up with him gone. And not just on Smackdown. Everyone named there has a good chance of getting a new look now.

As for the final question (since I've already addressed the part with Christian, I'll skip it), let's just say that you shouldn't get your hopes up for an in-ring return for Edge. In fact, if you go ahead and tell yourself that it won't happen, you'll be even happier if somehow, some day it does.

Sting has another interview up where he talks about WCW, WWE, and TNA items. Interesting read. I'm glad that he's interested in working with some of the younger talent. I can't help but wonder if we'll ever get that Sting/Taker match. As far as an Impact or PPV in Britain, if I'm not mistaken the PPVs WWE did in Britain didn't do all that well. They'd either have to tape them (which they don't like doing for PPVs) or show them at an odd time. It's not out of the question, but that's definitely something to take into consideration when the idea comes up. Not to mention they'd almost have to do the next Impact tapings nearby.

A former member of WWE's Creative team talked about the draft with PWTorch.com. I think that sometimes you need to move some big names, and sometimes you don't. Note that if the draft was truly random, you wouldn't just get big names (or just lower-card names) switching sides.

Fox News' Red Eye talked about the R-Truth smoking segment, taking a similar stance to what I did. Except for the whole being negative and stereotypical about wrestling thing obviously.

TNA will be running special shows in baseball stadiums over the summer. Interesting to note that Hogan and Flair will be making appearances, as it's rare that they do so. Flair has worked a number of house shows for the company overseas, but isn't a regular. Hogan might have done a handful if that.

Jim Ross will once again be on Raw this coming week. The decisions to use him have been on a week-by-week basis.

That's all for Thursday's news. I'll have more after midnight following Smackdown.