Alistair McGeorge
Published November 24, 2025 4:30pm
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Previous Page Next Page Key Points summary__ai-icon- Abyss, a retired wrestler known for his hardcore style, now helps produce WWE matches for stars like CM Punk and Drew McIntyre
- He regrets moments where he prioritised hardcore over storytelling but applies those lessons learnt to his production role
- The TNA Wrestling legend was added to the WWE 2K25 roster via a DLC pack earlier this year
Hardcore wrestling pioneer Abyss has revealed how today’s WWE superstars can learn from his mistakes.
The 52-year-old former TNA Wrestling champion, who has officially retired from his in-ring career, works behind the scenes for WWE as a producer helping the wrestlers put together their matches on Raw, SmackDown and premium live events like this weekend’s Survivor Series: WarGames.
He exclusively told Metro that while he’s proud of his legacy – which includes using barbed wire, thumb tacks and fire in some brutal matches – he wishes he’d done something things differently in the ring.
‘The biggest thing is what not to do. I did a lot of stuff,’ he explained in an interview after being added to this year’s WWE 2K25 video game.
‘If I had one thing that I wish I would have done different, I wish I would have done a little bit less of the hardcore, and a little bit more of the storytelling,’ he said.
He has learned his lesson, and applies his experience to his current role, where he has been in charge of high profile matches like CM Punk and Drew McIntyre’s brutal Hell In A Cell match in October 2024.
Abyss is one of the pioneers of hardcore wrestling (Picture: TNA Wrestling)
He was added a playable character in the WWE 2K25 video game (Picture: 2K)
‘I learned from the mistakes that I made, and I apply that to my job as a producer now,’ he said. ‘Making sure that the talent are safe, and in the intensity of which they’re doing, stuff is storytelling driven.’
Abyss, whose real name is Chris Park, insisted there is a place for ‘hardcore spots’ in the ring, but he’d rather they had ‘a great story behind it’ to justify the moments.
‘I learned that through my days of hardcore wrestling, the dos and the don’ts,’ he pointed out. ‘I’ve been able to apply that when I’m working with talent, like the Drew McIntyre/CM Punk Hell In The Cell.’
Abyss was the producer for CM Punk and Drew McIntyre’s bloody Hell In A Cell match (Picture: WWE)
The two rivals went all out in the ring, including McIntyre taking a particularly nasty bump onto the steel steps, while they were both bloodied and battered by the end.
For Abyss, who featured in Netflix’s WWE Unreal docu-series earlier this year, it was a perfect example of doing something so violent the right way.
TNA Wrestling icon Abyss' career highlights
- NWA World Heavyweight Champion
- TNA X-Division Champion
- Two-time TNA TV Champion
- Two-time TNA World Tag Team Champion
- NWA World Tag Team Champion
- Innovator of the Monster’s Ball and Barbed Wire Massacre matches
- TNA Hall of Fame (2018)
- Joined WWE as producer in 2019
- Added to WWE 2K25 as playable character
‘That, I think, was a masterpiece. Those guys just absolutely crushed it,’ he smiled. ‘There was a some elements that I was able to advise them on, from my experiences, that I think helped them make it even better.’
Despite having some regrets about not making each hardcore moment mean something, Abyss insisted he ‘wouldn’t change’ a thing about his back catalogue of matches.
Fans can put Abyss in dream matches in this year’s game (Picture: 2K)
‘I’m proud of every one of them. I wouldn’t change any one of them,’ he insisted.
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‘But, wow, I look back on some of them, and there’s times where even I look at it and I’m like, “What was I thinking?,”‘ he confessed, putting it down to being young and ‘reaching for the stars’.
He smiled: ‘I always tried to to give the fans something that they could walk away from and never forget. I felt like I accomplished that in a lot of ways.’
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WWE 2K25 is available now. Survivor Series: WarGames airs Saturday, November 28 on Netfix.
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