The Hulk Hogan era of TNA was a truly peculiar one, which didn’t end up great despite promising a lot of success on paper. Regardless, several eras of TNA hold a place in the hearts of many fans, in addition to several members of the roster being hugely popular. One of the more popular names in TNA history is Abyss, who was a longstanding member of the promotion. However, he couldn’t escape the strange booking within the Hogan era of the company, with him sharing the screen with the Hulkster in one of the weirdest storylines of all time.

The Hulk Hogan Era Of TNA Was A Mess

When Hulk Hogan was brought into TNA, it was initially a big deal. With a growing roster of popular and talented stars such as AJ Styles, Bobby Roode, and Samoa Joe, in addition to legends of the business such as Kurt Angle and Mick Foley, the company had a good groundwork to build something substantial. However, Hogan and many of the folk of yesteryear stole much of the spotlight, making that era of TNA one of the biggest failures in wrestling history.

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Hulk Hogan Pushes Ric Flair

A big issue was that many of these names, like the aforementioned Foley and Hogan, in addition to the aging Ric Flair, all stepped foot in the ring, even winning the World Title. It was truly a mess, and even the mainstays of TNA, who helped keep the promotion afloat, suffered from the poor booking dished out during this period, and that included “The Monster” Abyss, who is still to this day a TNA legend.

Abyss Is A TNA Legend, But Couldn’t Escape Bad Booking

Abyss was a big part of TNA’s rise, feuding with the likes of AJ Styles in great matches, whilst his gimmick was becoming very popular, with a dark-themed character reminiscent of the likes of Mankind and The Undertaker. It is always difficult booking a monster heel, especially when they tend to suffer tremendously after receiving even just one loss, most recently proven with WWE’s booking of “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt. Regardless, Abyss retained popularity through ups and downs, still retaining his character of being a monster.

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Abyss TNA

Over time, TNA began to get a little ridiculous with him. Comparisons could be drawn to the development of someone like Kane, who was regularly booked to do completely outlandish acts of terrible evil or become a comedic character at times. Abyss was no different, with his list of incredibly over-the-top and terrible storylines being almost too large to even begin to handle. Some of his storylines included family feuds, shootings, kidnappings, committals into mental institutes, and several instances of falling in love with women. However, one of the most ridiculous was his partnership with Hulk Hogan.

Abyss Received Magical Powers From Hogan’s WWE HOF Ring

During a feud with Eric Bischoff, Abyss was being overwhelmed by an attack by several heels, leading Hogan to run out to defend Abyss. At the time, Abyss had lost a lot of his aura and was instead a nervous wreck of a babyface. Hogan confronted him, giving him a pep talk, which involved completely stripping him down with backward insults, which was likely not the desired intention. Hogan then spoke down to him like a child, giving him his WWE Hall of Fame ring, telling him that it contained magical powers, and it would turn Abyss into a wrestling god.

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Abyss Hulk Hogan

When in possession of the ring, Abyss began to morph into a Hogan parody, wearing the classic yellow and red in his attire and began to experience superhuman strength, bulldozing his way through opponents with the utmost ease, implying that Hogan’s ring had in fact transformed his entire being, making him unstoppable. It was truly absurd, and Abyss becoming a Hogan fanboy made his credibility plummet even further than it already had done with his terrible storylines up until this point.

The Angle Between Hogan And Abyss Was Thankfully Dropped

Thankfully, the angle didn’t last too long, with Hogan getting his Hall of Fame ring back and Abyss returning to other wacky gimmicks, whether it be split personalities or competing in an array of ridiculous match types, including the likes of Monster’s Ball matches, First Blood Steel Chair on a Pole matches, and Doomsday Chamber of Blood matches. TNA was obsessed with using Abyss for all these weird matches, but he always put his all into making them as good as they could possibly be.

It emerged following the culmination of this story, that Hogan envisioned Abyss to be TNA’s very own “John Cena”. No matter how many bad booking decisions were made during Cena’s time in WWE, he was never a Hogan parody. Abyss dressing up like Hogan and getting magical powers from his ring is more telling to how Hogan views himself, rather than how he viewed Abyss.