Source: Chad Mearns of OurTownOnline.biz

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling will make its Johnstown debut this week, on the heels of the highest rated television broadcast in the company’s history.

TNA’s Jan. 4 broadcast of “TNA iMPACT” pulled in 2.2 million viewers — topping the previous high of 1.97 million set last April — largely fueled by the addition of Hulk Hogan and other stars to the company’s line-up.

And while it’s been a long road to success for TNA, it’s been an even longer journey for Abyss, one of the TNA stars scheduled to appear at the Cambria County War Memorial Jan. 14.

Prior to breaking in with then-upstart TNA in 2003, Abyss — real name Chris Parks — had been toiling for years on the independent circuit in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Michigan.

“I had some rough years, no doubt about it. I had very little money in my pocket, and I spent a few nights sleeping in the car,” Parks said last month in a phone interview. “It was definitely a sacrifice, but it paid off for me in the end.”

For someone who has made a living being nailed with steel chairs, ripped with barbed wire and covered in flames, a few nights in car might seem a slight sacrifice. But the life Parks gave up to follow his wrestling dreams certainly qualifies.

After graduating from Ohio University in 1993, Parks, an All-Mid American Conference guard with the Bobcats’ football team, took a job in pro hockey, working as the assistant director of marketing for the Atlanta Knights and later the Cincinnati Cyclones of the now-defunct IHL.

“I was just a kid out of college, but I was making a lot of money doing sales for the hockey team,” said Parks, estimating his earnings for his final year in hockey at $70,000.

Parks trained at Bonecrushers National Pro-Wrestling Training Center in Cincinnati, where his promising combination of size and mobility convinced him to leave his career and paycheck behind.

“They let me know I had a shot, so I started pounding the pavement and wrestling everywhere I could — for very little money, just to get experience and meet people.”

From 1995 to early 2002, Parks wrestled nearly nonstop throughout the Midwest, earning as little as $9,600 in his first year.

“I really mastered my craft in those six years. That’s just how it is in the wrestling business; that’s how you make it,” said Parks, who also spent a year wrestling in Puerto Rico.

It was enough to get Parks noticed by TNA, where Parks’s “Abyss” character has been a mainstay since 2003.

“I’ve done some good stuff,” Parks said. “I got power-bombed through a flaming table and set on fire two years ago. I’ve had 122 stitches on my left arm from being sliced open with barbed wire. I had glass taken out of my head, tacks taken out of my eyes. I’ve had some pretty intense injuries and some intense action.”

And unlike his days playing football, the 39-year-old Parks doesn’t get the benefit of an off-season to heal.

“We’re 52 weeks a year, so the breaks don’t come a lot. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

The motivation, he said, comes from the fans.

“I love performing in front of the fans. I love the challenge of a good match, no matter the situation or who it is with. I love the reaction of the fans, the rush, everything,” Parks said. “It’s so intrinsically rewarding from every standpoint.”

But if Parks is correct, TNA’s wrestlers could be on the verge of seeing new kinds of rewards.

“We’ve been growing by leaps and bounds, and this coming year I think we’re about to blast off,” he said.

“What TNA offers that the competition doesn’t, I think, is just accessibility to the wrestlers. When we take our show on tour, when we’re there in Johnstown on Jan. 14, we’ll do a big meet-and-greet with all the wrestlers. That’s something you won’t see anywhere else, and that sets us apart.”

Something else that won’t be seen, he said, is Parks sporting any old allegiances to his former employers — namely the Cincinnati Cyclones, now a division rival of the ECHL’s Johnstown Chiefs.

“If anything, I’ll be wearing a Chiefs jersey that night.”

Other wrestlers scheduled to appear at the War Memorial include Rhino, Daniels, Jay Lethal, The Beautiful People, Homicide, AJ Styles and Mick Foley.

Action begins at 7:30, and tickets range from $25 to $50.

Tickets can be purchased at the War Memorial box office, 326 Napoleon Street, or by calling 1-800-745-3000.

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