Abyss Returns; Say Hello to "Mr. Joseph Park, Esquire"

[JJYanks121]

I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm somehow interested in something to do with Abyss.

Yeah, I said it.

Now, TNA needs to buck their trend of starting stories off really well and then having absolutely no clue where to go with them. I sincerely hope there is an end game that is compelling already written for this. The worst thing that could happen here would be to build intrigue for a mediocre or worse storyline conclusion. I hope that's not the case.

 

[He's Phenomenal]

Whoa, I would never have guessed that was Abyss. Even looking at the picture now and knowing it's Abyss, I'm still finding it hard to believe that's actually him. But thinking about it, Joseph Parks' voice was very familiar. This could actually end up proving to be one of the more interesting stories on iMPACT over the coming weeks/months.

I've never been that down on Abyss' character, I'm actually a bit of a fan, I'm just of the opinion that he doesn't have the right (hardcore) opponents to work with. Put Abyss in a hardcore style match up and he's a joy to watch. Abyss will put his body through hell for the sheer entertainment of the fans and that's something I respect. But I also understand that in today's wrestling, you can't expect guys to put on hardcore matches on a weekly basis. So it probably is about time that Abyss' character started to move in a different direction and I'm interested in seeing what comes of "Joseph Parks".

 

[ABMorales787]

I'm dumbfounded, really. I spent the whole broadcast looking up who the hell that was. Was it some guy from OVW? Does Abyss have a real brother? Was it Penn Jillette? And it turned out to be the big man himself. While at first I thought it was just some clever gag to push the "Abyss was kidnapped by ninjas" story, it's obviously gonna be hard for him to go back on suit and explain the shorter hair and clean cut chin.

From what I saw, the suit and "lawyer" moniker (at least I think that's what he billed himself as) tell me he's gonna be a heel. To me that's pretty interesting seeing how besides Bully Ray and Bobby Roode, there's not much to call main event heels. Maybe Mr. Joseph Parks will see a fast rise to the top following James Storm and Bobby Roode's feud.

 

[SpecialFNK]

Abyss the monster had the face mask, but also long hair. here he is as "Joseph Parks" with short hair. Abyss is still in wrestling, in Ra Ka King, right? isn't it going to be obvious to people who can watch RKK that this is Abyss when Abyss wrestles in RKK with short hair?

when I first saw him last night I thought it was Penn from Penn and Teller. I was confused wondering why he was showing up at TNA wrestling. then it hit me it was Abyss, and I was shocked, SHOCKED! such a dramatic change from the monster Mankind look a like Abyss. for the rest of the show I couldn't stop thinking of Abyss. for what it's worth Abyss was also trending on twitter.

I'm interested to see where this goes. how is this "Joseph Parks" going to find Abyss and how will this lead to him being in the ring.

 

[BigPoppaPunk]

Joseph Parks as GM would be quite intriguing. I wonder how they could use him, maybe play him in a fine line between heel and face maybe? I think he still looks intimidating in a suit like this. Like he has respected exteriors but there's bad things brewing underneath like an evil preacher.

I'm of the opinion that Abyss as GM couldn't be any worse than Sting, who half the time is pretending to be crazy and incoherant. With Abyss, they've tried to pretty much give him an intellectual type of gimmick. What better way to enhance that than being the man in "charge" of TNA? It would be interesting to see how his character evolves every week while we slowly are given the news that "Joseph" is really Abyss(like we didn't already know).

I'd say having Abyss return unmasked in a new gimmick was the main interesting part of the show last night. Otherwise, it was the same old predictable crap.

 

[SpecialFNK]

one of the other things about the entire Abyss/Joseph Parks pieces last night is they were never known about in any spoilers, so no fans watching had any idea it was going to happen.

one area I think TNA has really failed with this is on twitter.
Joseph Parks has a twitter @JOSEPHPARK_esq so far with 1 tweet..

I am looking for my brother Chris. You might know him as Abyss.

this was also retweeted by the verified Impact Wrestling twitter @IMPACTWRESTLING, so this Joseph Parks twitter is not fake.
but the reason this is such a fail is because Abyss is active on a regular basis on twitter @TherealAbyss. so if this Abyss "brother" Joseph Parks wants to find Abyss he could just send him a message over twitter.
if TNA wanted to really work this Abyss is missing, then Abyss should not be tweeting during this time period. make it seem more real.

 

[The Eighties]

Never been a fan of Abyss but this is an interesting development for him, even if I suspect it will end up as a split personality angle where he reverts back to being Abyss full time at the end.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

I haven't been watching IW for a while but I did see the show once I heard about Abyss' transformation which I have to say was long overdue. I think Abyss has been wanting to do a gimmick like this for a long time. I remember sometime back when he dropped his weapon Janice and soon after started reading and quoting The Art of War. Maybe Abyss has wanted to play a more articulate, cultured and intelligent character and TNA now are finally giving him that opportunity.

Like Eighties said, I think that this might lead to a split personality gimmick, only I think that it does not need to stop. There are numerous ways in which TNA can approach this angle. It could be that Abyss portrays a gimmick wherein he is aware of both these personalities a la Mick Foley. It could be that he wants to find Abyss, but he wants to find Abyss within him again. Or it could be that Joseph Parks is unaware of the monster within him but transforms into one when he is angry. Like Bruce Banner and The Hulk. Yes, I do think that this will lead to some comparisons with Foley by the fans who are on the look out for such things but that should not deter TNA from doing a story that has potential.

This gimmick is an opportunity for Abyss to show his charisma and do something very different. Hope it works out for him.

 

[IT Factor]

I was surprized and happy to see the change with Abyss/Joseph Park. To be honest, I did like the Abyss character in the beginning when he had James Mitchell as his manager. That whole storyline with him being Abyss's father was good and Mitchell was a great compliment to Abyss's in-ring work.

I was beginning to be bored with Abyss until I seen Impact last week. I immediately recognized Abyss and thought this change was long overdue. Maybe Impact will actually follow through with this storyline and not screw it up.

 

[midgensa]

As everyone has said here it is amazing what the change looks like and this definitely could be a fascinating storyline with some real legs to it if TNA does not blow it.

I was watching the show kind of half-assed while working out and looked up to see this guy looking for his "brother" Abyss and thought ... damn ... that guy really looks like him ... kind of.

Did some quick Googling and shit and was just shocked to learn this is definitely him.

This is fascinating particularly because of the stark contrast obviously. There are going to be plenty of non-smarks (and even some smarks I am sure) that have NO IDEA this is Abyss and will be shocked when it is revealed somewhere down the line. There are so many angles that this can go.

In the long run ... I am sure there will be a feud that "brings the monster out" and it will be interesting to see if they run with it like an Incredible Hulk character or if they just switch him back.

None-the-less ... I have said the word interesting a bunch of times here ... and that is always good for TNA.

 

[Notorious718]

Yeah, I definitely wasn't aware that Joseph Parks was indeed Abyss until I found out on here. I had to re-watch the Youtube videos featuring Parks in order to match his voice with the voice of Abyss. As said earlier, it is amazing what a haircut can do for you. I'm not really sure where TNA is going with this but it definitely has caught my interest. I'm assuming some sort of split personality gimmick? Wherever this is going, I'm just glad Abyss is finally evolving his character. It's been much needed.

 

[Devlin]

I thought Judas Mesias was his brother (or half brother) & James Mitchell was his father, what happened to all of that, are they looking for him as well?

 

[Zeven_Zion]

I thought Judas Mesias was his brother (or half brother) & James Mitchell was his father, what happened to all of that, are they looking for him as well?

Kane's face was supposed to be all burnt, Paul Bearer was supposed to be dead, Joe was supposed to be kidnapped, Rey Mysterio was supposed to be kidnapped/tortured, Rock was supposed to be here forever. Welcome to the wonderful world of pro wrestling, bub.

I like this new reincarnation. My only nit picking comment is to have him wear a watch or something on his right arm. You could totally see his tattoos last week.

 

[RManske2]

I didn't see the episode but for those that did, I don't know if it's the haircut or the suit that gives the appearance but for those who saw it on television did the guy drop some weight or is it just deceiving from the photo? I am curious since it seemed there was a period of time that Abyss kept seeing to get bigger, and not in a good way.

 

[New Hot Fed]

I thought Judas Mesias was his brother (or half brother) & James Mitchell was his father, what happened to all of that, are they looking for him as well?

The storyline is that Abyss is crazy enough to think he's Joseph Park. So it's a fictional brother.