Is There Any Hope for Abyss?

[Rasha]

Of all the various complaints you see/hear about TNA, perhaps the most consistent is about Abyss. Starting with his failed face run with Hogan's HOF ring and continuing on down through the "THEY!!!!" angle and his feuds with RVD and Pope, it just seems like Abyss as become a literal and figurative eyesore.

One thing I've noticed, though, is that there many people who blame TNA's use of Abyss as opposed to those who simply believe he lacks talent. I would have to count myself in the first group; I think Abyss has very solid ring skills for his size and he's not a bad actor at all. Kane may have a better build and look, but can you really tell me that he's superior on the mic? I don't see it.

I think a huge part of Abyss' problem connecting with fans has been the way he's booked. Obviously the Hogan's Ring story was a mistake. Those feuds he had with "Dr. Stevie" were just dumb and never given enough consistency or time to even have a prayer. His angle with RVD wasn't terrible in theory but all the stuff about "Janice" and these ridiculous backstage mutilations of TNA employees, without him suffering any punishment from Dixie Carter or even the freakin' police, were way over-the-top. And now, this feud with Pope just hasn't worked because it seemed to have very little point to it to have spanned over two PPVs and had the casket gimmick.

All that said, I do think Abyss can be salvaged. Here are a few suggestions:

• If Hogan's going to call him "my son" and he's going to be the enforcer/executioner of Immortal, then have Hogan and Bischoff do more of the talking in these feuds. Abyss isn't bad on the mic, but I think the idea of him being this "caged" force that Immortal unleashes on their enemies would make him a little more interesting.
  
• Take away some of this dog-like obedience and make him a bit more of a loose cannon. Have Eric and Hogan seem nervous sometimes that Abyss is going to snap and ruin their plans or even turn on them. Have them try to find various ways to pacify him when he's showing signs of instablity, SUCH AS...
  
• Give him Daffney as a companion/girlfriend who could open up some more creative ideas for him. One night Abyss could say something about "my NEW girl," and out runs Daffney for some kind of match interference. Abyss could have some old school Dudley-like moments where he hits some big spots on other Knockouts. Since they've already used the Sabin/Velvet relationship recently on-screen, maybe a little co-ed angle could happen there.
  
• One other thought; send Abyss after the X-Division title. There's never been an actual weight class rule applied, so wouldn't it be the logical Bischoff move to send a guy like Abyss to just physically overpower them and get that belt for Immortal? It could be a good chance to help Lethal get some of his juice back by having him survive "The Monster" and hold on to the belt despite the odds.

 

[Find'er Woo'er Ryder]

i like your thoughts except for the thing about him being a loose cannon. abyss after the lethals x division championship dont make sense because its not lethals but robbie "e"s title. have shark boy win the title at the next ppv since they might fued for that title. then the next night on impact have abyss have an open challenge to face him in the ring and have sharkboy answer it. now i dont rembmeber sharkboy too well but with his stone cold gimmick he could get over and stun everyone left and right. im not saying have him main event but have him be in dixie carters corner. daffney as his manager would be interesting but whats the point of having him hit moves on knockouts unless she is going for the title and that wouldnt work because tna rarely has heel/heel title matches.

 

[Wrestlefan27]

I like all your ideas, but I'm pretty sure Spike has a strict "no male on female violence" policy. They booked Kip in a match vs a Knockout a while back and it was a comical squash match.

 

[The HEEL JuiceLee]

Did any1 see Abyss on the thanksgiving episode where they were waiting for dixie for dinner, Abyss just did not belong in that room, crazy eric young seemed more in place than Abyss.I think the only way for him to stay in immortal Is have the other dark charecter JEFF HARDY sort of take Abyss under his wings & clean his look up.He looks 2 dirty to be around the class of guys he is with, have Jeff talk him into removing the mask by Jeff telling him who cares what the fans think, have his hair less greasy, maybe slick it back like bobby rude and tone him down only outside the ring, let him be the loose cannon in the ring only.Let Abyss get a little flashy, because i do not think its his in ring work, its that his charecter is so far off from the fortunate immortal crew he is with.i also think him and Hardy bonding and getting real close could help Jeff also, because he also seems as an outsider in his own group.maybe him and Abyss give one another confidfence and start to feed off one another and take more control of the group, let MATTHEW all caps and a dark helms comeover and then they gain more power, Shannon Moore can be in a recruting war with matt and jesse neal.onece they become a more darker stable like a modernday ministry they tell hogan and bishoff to go kiss up 2 fortunes ass because they cant exist in there darker anti-christ world. but have abyss kick out and destroy A.j for Jeff like He did RVD before the fortune-immortal split so AJ can be the natural face he is, let wolfe take his spot in fortune,and AJ needs to be the 1 to take out Jeff.

 

[Rasha]

i like your thoughts except for the thing about him being a loose cannon. abyss after the lethals x division championship dont make sense because its not lethals but robbie "e"s title.

Well, I wrote that with the assumption that Lethal will win the title back from Robbie in the near future. Then again, I'm sure the Impact zone crowd would love to watch Abyss just completely destroy Robbie. Maybe that would be a good way to write Robbie off TV so he could be repackaged into something that didn't utterly suck.

I think the only way for him to stay in immortal Is have the other dark charecter JEFF HARDY sort of take Abyss under his wings & clean his look up.He looks 2 dirty to be around the class of guys he is with, have Jeff talk him into removing the mask by Jeff telling him who cares what the fans think, have his hair less greasy, maybe slick it back like bobby rude and tone him down only outside the ring, let him be the loose cannon in the ring only.

I've thought of this same thing, too. It reminds me a little of how Mankind went shirt & tie when he aligned himself with Vince and The Corporation. But they could take it to another level, as you outlined, and unmask Abyss to give him a more polished look. I also like the idea of getting Hardy more involved in Abyss' character and making them a duo. Good post.

 

[The Other Hardy Brother]

Sure there is hope for Abyss. He is a big man with decent mic skills and some movement for a man of his size. What they should do is bring back Father James Mitchell to manager him and keep him away from Immortal. I liked the idea of having Daffney alongside him as his girl as well maybe she could be included in a potential stable.

 

[The HEEL JuiceLee]

Rasha i appreciate your comments, i just learned to post yesterday, but i also read JEFF HARDY case is post poned so TNA could really do some good work with JEFF & ABYSS, JEFF helping abyss with his self confidence outside the ring, and ABYSS teaching Jeff to be more brutal in the ring,as JEFF has stated he was done with the high flyer style and busting his body for the fans, so Abyss could help him translate into a more aggresive mat wrestler.And i think helms,MATTHEW & Shannon, hell bring jesse neal for some muscle, could be a great emo- f*ck the fAns style of a stable,helms saying he went from a super hero to a super villian because the fans laughed at him & didnt appreciate him, a heel Helms doing promos with jeff and abyss and MATTHEW could be great, jeff telling hogan he is the anti christ who is immortal,and he just used hogan who is nothing but an old beat down VERY MORTAL man that him abd Abyss munipulated to get rid of KURT & RVD, used Hogans powers to sign there boys so they can take over the company,and hogan can go be with the other very broken down mortal ric flair and his pretty boys, because they couldnt last in there dARker world

 

[MB1025]

In my opinion they should drop the mask and let people see his facial expressions and his eyes better. Maybe more people would buy into him if they got to understand the character a little better. Another problem is he really hasn't dominated. All he does is scream during his promos and then he gets destroyed in his matches weather he wins or loses.


1. He needs a mouth piece
2. He needs to lose the mask
3. He needs to dominate 85 percent of his matches
4. He needs to be the muscle of Immortal

 

[Master Blaster]

• One other thought; send Abyss after the X-Division title. There's never been an actual weight class rule applied, so wouldn't it be the logical Bischoff move to send a guy like Abyss to just physically overpower them and get that belt for Immortal? It could be a good chance to help Lethal get some of his juice back by having him survive "The Monster" and hold on to the belt despite the odds.

If Abyss would hunt the X-Division Title, there would be nothing to do for Kazarian. Maybe if Kazarian fails, but I personally think the TV Title would be more fitting for someone like Abyss.

Did any1 see Abyss on the thanksgiving episode where they were waiting for dixie for dinner, Abyss just did not belong in that room, crazy eric young seemed more in place than Abyss.

You're right, he didn't fit in that party. But the look of AJ and some others, when Abyss said that he was thankful of Janice was funny.

I think the only way for him to stay in immortal Is have the other dark charecter JEFF HARDY sort of take Abyss under his wings & clean his look up.He looks 2 dirty to be around the class of guys he is with, have Jeff talk him into removing the mask by Jeff telling him who cares what the fans think, have his hair less greasy, maybe slick it back like bobby rude and tone him down only outside the ring, let him be the loose cannon in the ring only.Let Abyss get a little flashy, because i do not think its his in ring work, its that his charecter is so far off from the fortunate immortal crew he is with.i also think him and Hardy bonding and getting real close could help Jeff also, because he also seems as an outsider in his own group.maybe him and Abyss give one another confidfence and start to feed off one another and take more control of the group, let MATTHEW all caps and a dark helms comeover and then they gain more power, Shannon Moore can be in a recruting war with matt and jesse neal.onece they become a more darker stable like a modernday ministry they tell hogan and bishoff to go kiss up 2 fortunes ass because they cant exist in there darker anti-christ world. but have abyss kick out and destroy A.j for Jeff like He did RVD before the fortune-immortal split so AJ can be the natural face he is, let wolfe take his spot in fortune,and AJ needs to be the 1 to take out Jeff.

I like the idea of Jeff and Abyss teaming up. Both are loners and could have an interesting dynamic.

 

[Rasha]

If Abyss would hunt the X-Division Title, there would be nothing to do for Kazarian. Maybe if Kazarian fails, but I personally think the TV Title would be more fitting for someone like Abyss.

Oh, I agree 100%. I'm hoping that Lethal regains the belt from Robbie and the next feud is with Kazarian, but I just threw out the Abyss idea as I thought it would fit Bischoff's M.O. of throwing fairness out the window by sending a big man after what is essentially the "Lightweight" title of TNA.

If I was booking TNA, I'd have had Abyss team up with gun-for-hire Rhyno to go after the tag belts and used Beer Money is singles feuds with guys like Pope, RVD, and Samoa Joe. I know Beer Money vs. MCMG is a great angle, but maybe one more PPV cycle would've been good to get us further away from the Best-of-Five series. I also think the singles feuds for Roode and Storm would've been nice opportunities to help get them even more over and potentially set up Roode as the new leader of Fortune when they kick out of AJ for failing to get the TV Title back.

 

[Find'er Woo'er Ryder]

Oh, I agree 100%. I'm hoping that Lethal regains the belt from Robbie and the next feud is with Kazarian, but I just threw out the Abyss idea as I thought it would fit Bischoff's M.O. of throwing fairness out the window by sending a big man after what is essentially the "Lightweight" title of TNA.

If I was booking TNA, I'd have had Abyss team up with gun-for-hire Rhyno to go after the tag belts and used Beer Money is singles feuds with guys like Pope, RVD, and Samoa Joe. I know Beer Money vs. MCMG is a great angle, but maybe one more PPV cycle would've been good to get us further away from the Best-of-Five series. I also think the singles feuds for Roode and Storm would've been nice opportunities to help get them even more over and potentially set up Roode as the new leader of Fortune when they kick out of AJ for failing to get the TV Title back.

im actually excited for beer money vs guns again. that was some of the best tag team wrestling ive seen in a while. abyss should go for the tv title while jarret--hoping he drops this mma gimmick--goes for the x title.

 

[shattered dreams]

I actually think it is hard for Abyss because a lot of TNAs roster and really prowrestlers in general now lack size. So the choices are squash match (boring) or he has to wrestle down to the size of his opponent (makes him not look like a monster). Successful monsters often need a sizable foil, especially when they are going to not be THE guy. I do not know how you would write it but I think a story where a girl gets in Abyss' head could be interesting. I think the problem now is that he lacks a true mission. If you do not want to change it up immortal needs to give him a tangible objective. A program with Joe could be of interest. Outside the box maybe Abyss destroys a string of aging veterans or legends in the name of Hogan's legacy.

 

[multiverseman.com]

His persona is a Kane/Mankind ripoff and until they adress that, there's no helping him. I did like the white suit he wore a lot. They should make him more of a "serial killer" type of persona instead of an out of control monster. What I mean by that is, very calm, very methodical, very controlled to the point of eerie, but also brutal as hell.