Abyss Inducted Into Impact Hall Of Fame, Tension Builds Between Austin Aries And Johnny Impact
Last night, Abyss was inducted into the Impact Hall of Fame where he joined fellow members: Sting, Kurt Angle, Jeff Jarrett, Earl Hebner, and Gail Kim. Still making appearances today, Abyss debuted with the company back in 2002
Abyss' long-time manager, James Mitchell, spoke a bit about how Abyss was the perfect collaborator.
"In Abyss, I found the collaborator that I had been looking for my entire career," Mitchell said. "This man was able to take the words that I spoke into the microphone, he was able to turn them into lyrics. He was able to apply a melody to those lyrics and then create violent songs with what he did in the ring."
"In Abyss, I found the collaborator that I had been looking for my entire career."
James Mitchell is inducting @TherealAbyss into the Hall of Fame. #IMPACTHoF pic.twitter.com/jywRTCMqsX
? IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) October 14, 2018
When Abyss spoke, he thanked his manager for everything, along with the fans for being the "glue that's held this Monster together for the last 17 years." Abyss noted he's going into the Hall of Fame as one of the originals from the company's beginning and gave a shout out to other wrestlers who were there with him back then.
"I couldn't be more proud to stand among the greats that I'm standing with in this Hall of Fame, but being the first Impact original," Abyss said. "The originals were the foundation of this place, man, no matter what you say. The foundation of this company was built originally around 2002, going in with guys like AJ Styles, Eric Young, Bobby Roode, Christopher Daniels, Sonjay Dutt, and Low-Ki. I gotta say this, for all of the originals, this is for us."
.@TherealAbyss thanks James Mitchell for everything he did for him. #IMPACTHoF pic.twitter.com/893m8szk9z
? IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) October 14, 2018
.@TherealAbyss dedicates his Hall of Fame induction to all his fellow IMPACT Wrestling originals. #IMPACTHoF pic.twitter.com/swotzuKLlk
? IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) October 14, 2018
"To the fans, you guys have been glue that's held this Monster together for the last 17 years." – @TherealAbyss thanks the fans. #IMPACTHoF pic.twitter.com/LiLxhd62mX
? IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) October 14, 2018
The entire induction was shown on Twitch, which you can see in the videos below. Looks like the feed dropped out, so there's two videos that show the event. Impact World Champion Austin Aries got on the microphone afterwards to talk about the company's changes, but Abyss being a constant.
Aries then slowly transitioned his promo towards his upcoming Bound for Glory PPV Title Match against Johnny Impact (who was in the front row with his wife, Taya Valkyrie). Aries said he wanted to apologize for the non-PG things he said about Impact and his wife on social media. Impact said to him tonight isn't about that.
Aries continued to say he was going to apologize until he saw Valkyrie and Impact on TMZ trying to capitalize on what he said and trashing his name. The two start to go at each other and the feed is suddenly cut out.
Be sure to join our live coverage of tonight's Bound for Glory PPV beginning at 8pm ET.
Watch Abyss Joins the IMPACT Hall of Fame (Pt. 1) from IMPACTWrestling on www.twitch.tv
Watch Abyss Joins the IMPACT Hall of Fame (Pt. 2) from IMPACTWrestling on www.twitch.tv