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Abyss made his wrestling debut as a character for TNA in June 2003 and stayed with the company until signing with WWE as a backstage producer in January 2019.
Here we look at his origins, early career, and storyline while exploring the inspiration behind the character.
The Birth of Abyss in TNA
When Abyss debuted on TNA, he was portrayed as a monster and used as a bodyguard by Kid Kash who would go on to betray him. Abyss then aligned himself with Don Callis until 2005 when he got Goldy Locks as manager. His relationship with Goldy Locks was extremely beneficial for her as she used him to defeat her ex-boyfriend and anyone who crossed her. But, like a true monster, Abyss couldn't be controlled and turned on Goldy Locks.
His most fruitful, interesting, and well-developed alliance and storyline was with manager James Mitchell between 2005 and 2008. He would feud with Sabu and then move on to join Planet Jarrett to go after Rhino. Once Rhino was disposed of by Abyss, Mitchell decided to go after the NWA World Champion, Christian Cage.
Abyss attacked Cage and began stalking his wife for several weeks to get inside the head of the champion; he would untimely come up short against Cage.
He also feuded with Raven and Samoa Joe before going after NWA World Heavyweight Champion Sting, whom he would defeat via disqualification at Genesis for the title. Later, Sting tried to reason with the man as opposed to the monster he had become but Cage got embroiled in the feud confessing he knew something from Abyss’s past. Abyss would lose the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, being eliminated first and then attacking Sting, resulting in Cage capturing the belt.
Exploring the Origins of Abyss
Abyss seemed to display a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde-type personality being the uncontrollable monster with the man, Chris, underneath being a kind and soft soul. It was seen when Sting revealed that Abyss was in prison for shooting his father and sending him into a coma, where he survived.
As it would later turn out, that wasn’t the case at all! Mitchell showed up with a woman who Abyss recognized. It was revealed that the woman was the mother of Abyss and she was the one who shot Abyss's father; Abyss took the blame to protect his mother. This one act of kindness was also the thing that would turn a young Chris into the monster we see before us. James Mitchell used this information to control Abyss until enough was enough. Abyss turned face as he turned his back on Mitchell.
More information came out about Abyss after splitting with James Mitchell as we heard him speak for the first time. But Mitchell was never that far from Abyss. He reappeared and began messing with him with the help of Raven, Black Reign, and Rellik. Months later, another truth was revealed using blackmail and attempted murder by fire by James Mitchell and a returning Judas Mesias adding more layers to the story of Abyss.
Mitchell revealed that he is, in fact, the father of Abyss and that Mesias is his half-brother. Soon after, Abyss would remove his mask and the next thing we hear is that he is locked up in an asylum. He would return at Slammiversary wearing a white asylum uniform with his inmate number and his last name 'Park' on the back and a new gray and black mask.
His specialty includes hardcore matches such as a First Blood Steel Chair on a Pole match, Ladder match, Serengeti Survival match, Full Metal Mayhem match, Barbed Wire Massacre match, Hangman's Horror match, Shop of Horrors match, Match of 10,000 Tacks, Doomsday Chamber of Blood Match, and the first-ever Monster’s Ball match.
We can’t cover the whole of Abyss’s fifteen-year career here but by exploring the origins of the character we can see he can be a good guy and a bad guy. His story, appearance, and personality are heavily influenced by the great literary horror of the Victorian era, from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This creates a compelling and thought-provoking character that isn’t just visual but makes the audience think and sympathize with a supposed monster.
