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SHOCKING: TNA Legend Shows up on WWE SmackDown

Published 08/15/2020, 1:20 AM EDT

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If you were a fan watching TNA in the late 2000’s, tonight’s episode of WWE SmackDown would’ve taken you down a nostalgic path. We saw the return of Joseph Park a.k.a The Monster Abyss in a professional wrestling ring after a long wait of two years.

Don’t get your hopes too high as TNA’s resident monster didn’t really don his wrestling gear. Instead, he was introduced as the “Advanced Analytics Guy” of the Intercontinental Champion AJ Styles.

Since becoming champion, we haven’t seen the Phenomenal One really solidify his heel character. Contrast this with the time when “Beat Up John Cena” had become his go-to slogan.

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Now, it seems like a statistical approach will be the key behind his second big heel run. That’s where Joseph Park comes into the equation.

Tonight on SmackDown, Styles and Park walked to the ring with a big board to present some stats. AJ boasted about all the opponents that had bitten the dust in the pursuit to defeat him.

Meanwhile Park unveiled the stats that revealed that AJ was the number one and there wasn’t anyone else on the rankings.

Later, Jeff Hardy would walk out and lay out Styles, leading to a Championship match being set up for next week. However, the surprise debut of Joseph Park overshadowed this big development.

Joseph Park and AJ Styles have a storied history in TNA before showing up in WWE

AJ Styles and Monster Abyss have fought several battles against each other in TNA. Perhaps their greatest match happened in 2005 when the two stars collided inside Six Sides of Steel.

Over the years, they were part of several storylines together and even fought alongside each other.

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As we all know, TNA was heavily mismanaged and many stars chose to leave the sinking ship. AJ Styles was one of them as he left for NJPW and later made his big WWE debut.

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Read more – “They Wanted me to Take Less Money”- AJ Styles Reveals Why He Parted Ways With TNA

However, Abyss would continue to remain loyal to his first employers and became their longest tenured Superstar. In 2018, the Monster was inducted into the IMPACT Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Post that, he would finally walk towards the greener pastures of the WWE, albeit as a backstage producer.

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This big return on-screen has exponentially raised the hopes of the fans of his deranged personal. Park is a master at character work and play the multiple personality monster to perfection.

The sports entertainment genius of Vince McMahon would surely love to dabble in those waters. As and when that happens, I can assure you that you will not be disappointed.

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Written by:

Aryan Sharma

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Aryan Sharma is a WWE and Tennis author and editor at EssentiallySports. Being a journalism graduate from Delhi University, he combines his love for creating content with an astute knowledge of almost three eras of professional wrestling. He's also a Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova fan and likes to write on the social impact of these two legends beyond their achievements on the tennis court.
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