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Friday, October 28, 2011

Boo: The Monster

Abyss! (from Impactwrestling.com)
By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger

I remember the first time I saw Abyss wrestle for TNA back in the early days of the company.  He started in 2003, but I didn't start watching until '04.  My first thought was that he was a rip off of Kane, but I think there's more to him than met my eye intitially.

I'll admit I'm not the biggest fan of "the Monster", but I do think he's done some good things in the ring.  At one time he was one of the most recognizable faces on the TNA roster.  I'm not sure if that's saying much though. (I kid)  But I would dispute the claim made by Hulk Hogan that Abyss is the second coming of John Cena.  The character is different for sure, but I don't ever see him taking off to that next level.

Abyss has had his share of ups and downs in TNA.  He's held several titles in the company, including the world, X division, and tag team titles.  I always thought he was at his best when he was a heel though.  But I'm old school and like the monster type gimmicks for the heels.  To me, it just doesn't work as well for the faces.  I think Mick Foley's transformation of Mankind as a face would be the rare exception.  But his monster tendancies went away too.

That ain't Duggan's 2x4 (Impactwrestling)
Anyway, I thought the pairing of Hogan and Abyss and the whole Hall of Fame ring gimmick didn't do Abyss any favors.  It's hard for a guy to go from barbwire and thumb tack matches to hanging with the Hulkster, in my opinion.  But again, it worked for Foley to a degree.  He went from hardcore to popular babyface pretty easily.

Something I did discover about Abyss while researching this, we are roughly the same age.  Not that we're old, but he is pushing 40 and the shelf life of wrestlers is not very long, especially ones who wrestle those hardcore type matches.  I'll be curious to see how TNA utilizes the monster in the coming months.  Clearly it appears that changes are on the horizon, I just wonder if he'll be a part of them.

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