5 wrestlers who never should have been unmasked

#3 Abyss

Just a large fella without the mask.

Abyss has the appearance of an escaped mental patient when he’s got his mask on. He’s a stocky, 350lbs man who looks like he could do some serious damage if you came within 20 feet of him. He was TNA’s answer to Mankind, Cactus Jack and Kane all rolled into one and it just worked.

I’m of the opinion that as long as a character is consistent and over, only minor changes need to be made to keep the character fresh. Abyss had the audience behind him as they believed in his fight, they believed in his story and they believed in the character.

TNA obviously thought that Abyss needed something new to do so they introduced his portly, clean shaven, short haired brother Joseph Parks. It wouldn’t have been as bad if Abyss wasn’t the one playing him.

In this Internet age where the fans know everything about everyone, it’s hard to get different characters over. But revealing Joseph Park was like shooting themselves in the foot because Abyss was over, he had a brilliant character and this goofy comedic version of himself seemed like a waste of time.

He could be using that time to take the character of Abyss, the masked maniac in places he hasn’t been before. It doesn’t need to be a big change, but it does need to stay true to the character, which the comedic exploits of Joseph Parks did not.

I preferred not knowing what Abyss looked like as it kept a certain element of anonymity to his character. I think this unmasking could be forgiven if he ever made the move to WWE as Abyss.