Abyss Unmasked — Now What?

[It's Damn Real!]

I mean, it was clear as could be that Joseph Park was Abyss (Chris Parks — let's just pretend we don't notice the fact that the two don't actually share the same last name) since day one, but now that he's been officially unmasked by Eric Young in the middle of the ring, much to his own confusion and denial, what comes of this?

I'll admit, I've never really been too big a fan of Abyss to begin with, always mockingly referring to him as Mankind-of, or Man-Kane-dof, and routinely pointing out that as each year passes he seems to gain more and more weight, which becomes more and more of a problem with who he can work with, but I will give TNA credit here in seeing this thing through to the end.

I just don't really know what that end is, or what it's supposed to be.

Any ideas?

 

[AegonTargaryen]

Abyss is a joke. The end. The only way one could describe Abyss is that he's a Kane and Mankind/Cactus Jack Hybrid, devoid of every charismatic and intriguing factor possessed by those two, and MORE OVERWEIGHT than MICK FOLEY. Abyss Unmasking as a character akin to Kane unmasking in 2003 is and will always remain as insignificant, hollow and contrived as Abyss himself.

 

[TDFG]

Isn't Judas Mesias his brother & James Mitchell his Dad?

I was interested in the Abyss character up to about 2010/11, now I just think he's lucky to still be in TNA.

 

[Papa Pillman]

I think in the short term this becomes a case of Park revealing that he had suppressed the Abyss side of his personality due to no longer wanting to be a monster, and the reason he has turned on Young is because he is upset that the monster has been reawakened.

Ultimately I think it leads to another short lived "Abyss goes away" angle, only to see him return with a new partner or in a new "manager" type of pairing. Maybe it leads to James Mitchell returning, or perhaps they'll do something more original than that.

 

[Mr. Artistic guy]

Opinions on Abyss the character or wrestler aside, there is a lesson to be taken here. Yes, it took far too long for this story to come full circle, but at the end of it all TNA has taken a character who was exhausted and feuding for the X division title and turned him into someone more interesting and a renewed threat in the company.

They went with a far out idea, and stuck it through to the end. It wasn't to everyone's taste, but it made sense in context with the character and has given him new layers and a lease of life.

Essentially it's a lesson on how you can evolve existing established characters when they aren't feuding for a title to stop them from going stale. A tip WWE could use more often.

I'm glad the story is in it's final stages, though, and that TNA have released a top guy back into the wilds. I've always liked Abyss, and found him to be distinctly different to Mankind or Kane. I'm glad he's back, if not for long.

 

[three count bout]

They will assuredly reveal the origins of the Abyss character soon. From the information we've received thus far we can form several theorems. Joseph Park was once a motivated, successful young lawyer until his wife Janice left him for another man. This caused a terrible emotional scarring which was only healed when Joe Parks embraced his hatred becoming Abyss. We will (unfortunately) be getting much more Abyss but that doesn't mean it has to be the end of the Joseph Parks character. Joseph Park is still able to practice law, and Dixie just happens to be in a power struggle which may need proper litigation services...

I"m torn because I actually liked the Joe Parks character I thought his facials were awesome and the part was well played. His pairing with EY was always good for a chuckle and his quest to become a respected wrestler was endearing. Some might say it went on too long and that's certainly a fair opinion but I didn't mind so much because I was burned out on Abyss.

 

[ABMorales787]

Keep the Monster gimmick. Mask or no mask, his short appearances since the Joseph Park thing started have showed nothing but love for the Monster each time he pops up. TNA has made him quite the special draw. Watch Hardcore Justice 3 to see what I'm talking about. An entire PPV built around his appearing at the end of it with crowd chanting "We Want Abyss" through the whole event. That's good drawing power and worth exploiting at a time when TNA has lost so many major stars.

 

[New Hot Fed]

Keep the Monster gimmick. Mask or no mask, his short appearances since the Joseph Park thing started have showed nothing but love for the Monster each time he pops up. TNA has made him quite the special draw. Watch Hardcore Justice 3 to see what I'm talking about. An entire PPV built around his appearing at the end of it with crowd chanting "We Want Abyss" through the whole event. That's good drawing power and worth exploiting at a time when TNA has lost so many major stars.

As lame or played out as Joseph Park and the storyline turned out, I noticed that the moment I saw Abyss, I forgot everything cause he looks so badass to me still. In my opinion they should stop the storyline right there and just uses Abyss, cause that's all that matters, having him perform. TNA needs a monster.

Another option would be - and this could be tricky because I don't trust TNA to handle it properly - to create another character that would be a mix of Abyss and Joseph. Maybe call him Mister Mirror or something.

 

[MINISTRYrising]

I just finished watching this weeks edition of impact and After seeing the segment with EY and Abyss, I am now looking forward see what TNA do with his character next. Sure TNA dragged this storyline out a lot longer then they should have just like they did with the Aces and Eights stioryline, But now that Abyss and Joseph are sort of the same person, TNA now have the chance to do something new and exciting with the character Also with what was said in the Segment last night, I imagine Chris will be off TV for a while and this could be a good thing as he really needs to hit the Gym and loss some of the weight he has put on the last couple of years. When he does finally return I think we might finally get to see him as Chris parks and not Abyss or Joseph and I don't know if its just me or not but when he said he needs somebody that understands him. Did anybody else get the felling that he was refering to James Mitchell.

 

[Papa Pillman]

First of foremost, that was an outstanding promo delivered by Abyss last night.

Now with the announcement that the Monster is going away to, let the speculation begin on who's help he will seek out.

James Mitchell as I mentioned earlier in the thread, and as MINISTRYrising suggested, would seem logical. And the most likely scenario may in fact be a new face altogether. But as long as theories will surely abound, here's a fun one to consider:

This might seem a little outside of the box, so stay with me...

Abyss is leaving to "fix this" and "find someone who truly understands him". It would seem to be that he needs to reconcile the seperate fractions of his persona. Strangely this is happening at the same time that Jeff Hardy is scheduled to return as what appears to be a less mentally stable alternate persona himself. Depending on how Hardy is presented to handle the differences between himself and the Willow character, could it be that Hardy will be the one who is ultimately capable of helping Abyss juggle his own delicate pysche? It seems Hardy could be logically set up as the man who "truly understands" him.

Hardy and Abyss have a very storied and violent history in TNA that stretches all the way back to Hardy's initial run with the company. The company even revisited that history for the most recent One Night Only special. Given that Hardy could be displaying similar inner-personality conflicts and considering the amount of carnage delivered and the blood the two have shed at each others hands, perhaps Hardy could be the right person to "help" Abyss, maybe even as the end result of a renewed blood feud between the two that would keep both in a relevant storyline with important matches, while also keeping Hardy out of the world title picture for a while.

That's probably not the direction that either man's story will head in, but its a logical possibility. What are some other ideas you guys have for who could ultimately be the man to help Abyss "fix EY's mistake".

 

[Logisticalbooker86]

Abyss should be the monster heel in Dixie Land, keep the mask off. Promos where he openly criticizes fans for "pushing him into being a monster" and using thumb tacks, and questions their thirst for blood. Joseph Park is very underrated. To survive all the questionable booking he has, (Abyssamania, the clumsy lawyer) to still be a valuable contributor to the roster is a credit to how good he can be.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

Well, the con of this is that you just took away the one thing that made him special. The Pro is that Abyss is an excellent actor and now we can at least see all of his facial expressions and emotions.

Personally, I'm bored to death with Abyss. I always have. I've never found any enjoyment in the big, scary looking wrestlers who cut themselves a lot and do the hardcore stuff. The only one I liked was Kane and that was way back in the 90's.

Maybe he'll maintain his relevance, maybe not. I know I won't care because he's just not my cup of tea, but I do think he's very talented and a great worker.

 

[lil steroid meat]

Character stale. Joseph Park as a comedy character has ran its course. Abyss as a "beast" has ran it's course. The whole Frankenstein angle has ran it's course. The promo between Young and Abyss/Parks this past week on Impact was cringe worthy. Eventually it got to the point of "what the fuck are you talking about bruh?"

I say at this point, Abyss'/Parks only use is to put him on commentary to freshen up the announce team.

 

[Crypt Keeper]

I honestly would like to see him feud with the upcoming debut of Willow/Hardy. I think TNA could make it work seeing as both characters have alter egos.

 

[Cereal Killer]

Now we know that from here onwards, it's going to be Abyss and another ally by his side. He said he needs to find somebody that understands him. James Mitchell was his manager 3 years. He's the only person that stuck by him (excluding Hulk Hogan, Sting and Mick Foley) and is the only person that would seem to understand Abyss. Especially if he managed him for 3 years and is his kayfabe father.

However, Abyss said he needed help and came across as a face. Mitchell may return as a face and try to remind Abyss who he is and at the same time, keep the monster in Abyss going (unless Mitchell drops the dark character and wants to manage Joseph Park). I can't think of anyone else that we've seen aligned with him knowing the Monster to an extent that he can help him out. Especially if it's Abyss they're dealing with.

 

[Alex]

You know I watched the 'Willow Is Coming' video again and it got me thinking that Willow may possibly be the character that will ally with Abyss. He's certainly weird enough so there's a connection there. I may be talking out my ass but a weird small guy who has a poetic sense of talking allying himself with the big weird angry guy to give him some direction makes some sort of sense.

 

[Randy Orton's Head Blood]

Now what? Joseph Parks shuts up & Abyss carries on. The Park/Abyss Saga was pretty enjoyable, but now he realises that he's the same person, he needs to start acting as just one of them. Obviously, nobody wants to see Joseph on a weekly basis, so we just need to start getting Abyss back. Maybe, Eric Young can mentor him back into being the really sadistic Abyss we once saw. Or, maybe Abyss just becomes "another wrestler". Where it goes from here I'm not too sure exactly, but it better just go back to normal.