Abyss Recalls His Steel Cage Match With AJ Styles

Impact Wrestling performer Abyss was recently inducted into the Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame, and the promotion has released a series of videos to promote the 'My Best 5' series involving the 'Monster' Abyss. In the newest sneak peek video, Abyss recalled his steel cage match with AJ Styles at Lockdown pay-per-view in 2005, and talked about how the match brought the two performers closer.

"In the first 8-10 minutes of the match, we weren't even in the cage", said Abyss. "We fought all over the building, and he did some incredible stuff. I shot him underneath a guardrail one time and he slid under the guardrail which is only about that much (motions) space. I don't know how he did it. The beginning of the match to me is an iconic moment in Impact Wrestling history, when he dives through the cage door onto me. That had never been done. We talked to the designers of the cage and we said, 'Can you make the door a lot bigger than normal?' So that was cool. That dive at the beginning I think is an iconic moment. It was an incredible match. He gave me the Styles Clash into the thumbtacks at the end. I know AJ tried to talk me out of that. I remember that part, and I was like, 'No, please AJ. Let's do it'. And AJ was like, 'Alright, we'll do it'.

"You go back and look at that, and when he gives me the Clash, his finisher into the thumbtacks, and you look at the reactions of people ringside, you know, I get goose bumps thinking about it. We both, we took it to the limit that night. And he was exhausted after, and I was exhausted after, but again I? both of us had the biggest grin and smile on our face after it. We knew we had delivered, and it was a special moment with me and him, and before that match, we were already close. We were already brothers, we already had a lot of camaraderie and that match, that '05 Lockdown brought us even closer."