Wrestling icon, 51, is 'officially retired' as they reveal WWE future

Metro

4 days ago

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A wrestling legend has officially announced his retirement 21 years after his debut match.
TNA Wrestling icon Abyss, who is making history as his character appears in WWE 2K25 as part of today's Dunk & Destruction DLC pack, hasn't had a match since 2019 when he joined WWE behind the scenes as a producer.
Asked if he would appear in the Royal Rumble, Abyss – whose real name is Chris Park – exclusively told Metro: 'I'm officially retired.
'I'm so enthralled, and just intertwined with what I'm doing now as a producer, you know – I don't have any interests either. [Wrestling again is] not an option.'
Park, 51, admitted that the punishment he put his body through over the years has taken his toll.
'I'm getting up there in age, I'm still a young man,' he quipped. 'But my the old 'bump card' is tapped out for me.'
Instead, Park – who has never wrestled for WWE, but had a brief on screen stint as AJ Styles' statistician on SmackDown – is 'so focused on being the best producer I can be'.
Since February 2019, the man best known to fans as 'The Monster' Abyss has swapped his reputation for bloody and violent wrestling in favour of a career helping today's WWE stars plan out their matches.
He is grateful for his second career, and getting to work with and learn from the likes of Paul 'Triple H' Levesque, Michael Hayes, Ed Koski, Brian James and more.
'It's an incredible learning experience. There's some just amazing, brilliant minds,' he smiled.
'When you get three or four minds and three or four sets of eyeballs looking at something, and you get a collaboration – that's always when you get the best product, in the end.'
In another unexpected twist, Abyss will become the first TNA character in a WWE video game, having never featured on screen for the company.
He's in the newest WWE 2K25 DLC alongside Hall of Famer The Great Khali, and NBA stars Tyrese Haliburton, Shaquille O'Neal and Jalen Brunson.
Park described it as a 'bucket list moment', especially seeing his iconic persona in a WWE game with his beloved theme music and signature weapon Janice.
'I never imagined in a million years that I would have the opportunity to be in a WWE video game,' he beamed with pride, before revealing he was given a full body scan to accurately bring Abyss back to life.
'It's been an incredible process, you know, from the scans and the different elements to make it happen, make it come to life,' he added.
It's also been surreal for the 51-year-old former world champion to see the partnership between TNA and WWE.
'My entire run at TNA, which was a pretty significant amount of time, 2002 to 2019 … TNA and WWE working together, that wasn't an option back then,' he said.
'It's an incredible moment for TNA, for WWE. It's just been fantastic.'
Over the years, Abyss could have become a WWE superstar, with Park previously confirming offers to work with The Undertaker at WrestleMania.
'There were options there,' he admitted. '[But] I was a TNA guy. I was a lifer. I had been there since the very, very beginning, since the doors opened. For me, it was just a loyalty thing.'
Abyss gave TNA so many incredible moments while putting his body on the line in the name of entertainment.
He may have built his reputation on being a hardcore wrestling, but the man behind the mask admitted even he got 'scared'.
'Being nervous is a good thing. It keeps you sharp,' he explained. 'Every risky spot that I ever did in wrestling, obviously there was a high risk to it, but it was calculated.
'I tried to be smart about it, and but I was always nervous, and some of them were scary. The Bubba and D'Von chokeslam off the side of the stage through the fire table is one I perhaps wish I had back.'
Despite overtures from WWE, Park would have found it 'so incredibly hard' to leave, as his history 'weighed on him' as while making a decision.
'I was there for all the good and all the bad, and all the in between,' he chuckled. 'The friendships I forged there were just amazing.' More Trending
WWE fans will have to play as Abyss in WWE 2K25 to bring dream matches to life, and Park has some in mind.
'You gotta do Abyss/Undertaker,' he said. 'Then Kane. I had the opportunity to work with Mick Foley in TNA, but that'll be up there.
'I've got to revisit the classics, Abyss versus AJ Styles. Maybe in WWE 2k25 I can actually beat AJ!'
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Play as Abyss in the new WWE 2K25 Dunk & Destruction DLC pack.
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