A former TNA star made his first WWE appearance this week on Friday Night SmackDown.
Christopher Joseph Parks, the man who many fans knew as Abyss in TNA Wrestling, appeared in a backstage segment with AJ Styles shortly before they went to commercial break. Parks also appeared with Styles for an in-ring segment and he was introduced as being part of Styles’ legal team as Styles made the case that nobody deserved to challenge for the Intercontinental Championship.
This may be his first WWE TV appearance but he’s been with the company as a producer since January 2019. This was a clear nod to fans who remember the Styles vs. Abyss matches from many years ago in TNA.
The segment led to Jeff Hardy coming out to stake his claim as the number 1 contender for the Intercontinental Championship. Hardy vs. Styles is scheduled for SummerSlam but the match is not official yet because Styles told Hardy that he needs to earn a shot at the title.
UPDATE: The IC Title match between Hardy and Styles was moved to next week’s SmackDown instead of SummerSlam.
The DEBUT of the "Phenomenal Intercontinental Statistics System" (❓) is NEXT on #SmackDown!@AJStylesOrg pic.twitter.com/5W0tTYCCA1
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Who was earned the right to be in the ring with @AJStylesOrg??
… NOBODY!#SmackDown #ICTitle pic.twitter.com/plMsUbPVEM
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Hold on a second here…#SmackDown @JEFFHARDYBRAND @AJStylesOrg pic.twitter.com/tLCsig8IHu
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Message = SENT. 👊#SmackDown #ICTitle @JEFFHARDYBRAND @AJStylesOrg pic.twitter.com/3FmDscTUj8
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