Abyss was interviewed by Wrestling Epicenter's Interactive Wrestling Radio recently. You can see highlights below and the full interview at this link.
Rosemary and other stars saying Abyss influenced their decision to wrestle:
"Oh man, it is flattering to say the least. I don't know of a bigger compliment that a young piece of talent could pay to a veteran than to say that and to mean that. I know Rosemary means that - She's told me that before. I just can't tell you what that means to me. I've had a great career, man. I've had a blessed career. I've been wrestling 23 years, 17 of that at Impact. I've been able to cross an awful lot off my bucket list. I've gotten to share the ring with guys that I grew up idolizing from Roddy Piper to Mick Foley to Hulk Hogan... Sting! I've had a very good career. I have zero regrets. I've been so blessed with it. But, now it is time to give back! I feel really strongly about that. Every piece of talent, as you get older, should turn around and help that next person on to that hill. That's my thing. I want to give back. I'm still going to be in the ring and I want to help these young guys and young girls obtain their dreams and goals and get them to where they need to be with the company - Get them over with the company and over with the fans and to get to enjoy long careers like I've been fortunate enough to enjoy. Giving back is a lot and to get compliments like that, there's no bigger compliment than that and I really appreciate it."
On his program with Kongo Kong:
"I really enjoyed that program with Kongo Kong. Going back to the last thing we talked about, helping somebody new. Kongo Kong's been around on the indies. I've always liked him. I've always thought that for a big man, he could move. So, to do that program and to see him get launched was a big honor for me as well. THe program was a great build. You saw almost 10 weeks to finally see Abyss finally get to him. And, it showed in the ratings. It did a very good rating. It did one of our highest ratings of the year. That match has over 3,000,000 views on YouTube. It is just a really good piece of wrestling business. We really told a great story to get Abyss reintroduced into it and to, at the same time, kind of get Kongo Kong launched. It accomplished every goal we wanted. It was very enjoyable... Very enjoyable!"
