Top 10 TNA Impact Wrestling Stars of All Time
By Tim Sherry
7. Abyss
No one will ever mistake Abyss for a great in-ring technical worker. And he won’t be remembered for winning a ton of awards and championships in TNA, although he is a Grand Slam Champion. But what will remember The Monster for is his importance and commitment to the promotion that he’s been with for over 15 years. Abyss embodies the idea of a company man as he time in and time out sacrificed his body in the name of entertainment. Look no further than the above match against Sabu that won the 2005 TNA match of the year. Shear brutality.
For the first decade of Abyss’ tenure with the company, he was seen as the vicious, destructive beast. But in 2012 he shocked the TNA world by debuting as Joseph Park, Abyss’ brother. The man that was once the biggest monster in TNA was suddenly on the TV screen as a 4-eyed, concerned, and quite frankly, nerdy man who was in search of Abyss who hadn’t been seen in weeks. Sounds crazy, right? But astonishingly Park made this gimmick one the best TNA has ever produced. His commitment and acting ability pushed this gimmick out 2 years and even won Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Gimmick of the Year in 2012.
At 43 years old Abyss is still with the company and he’s continuing to get the job done under his original gimmick. In March of 2016, he captured his second tag team title in his career. But outside of his accomplishments, it’s impossible to gauge the importance that he has brought to TNA. He’s one of the pioneers and for however long TNA hangs around, “The Monster” will unquestionably be part of their plans.