Let’s do a quick “Wrestling Salvage Yard” with Tank Abbott. A pioneer of early MMA in North America, he entered the sport with a raw style as a pit fighter or street fighter and a boisterous personality.
A Brief Wrestling Career
Honestly, those traits made him a great fit in the weird and wild world of wrestling during the late Monday Night Wars. He would sign with World Championship Wrestling in 1999 and was supposed to be a tough rival for Goldberg.
Think of it in the same way as WWE bringing in an assortment of monsters throughout the 1990s to bolster the supernatural lore and appeal of The Undertaker—or Hulk Hogan in the 1980s.
Things wouldn’t shake out as intended for that feud and Tank Abbott was just…on the WCW roster. Sure, he racked up convincing wins with his Phantom Punch but there was really no backup plan for the brawling badass.
Apparently, Abbott was the final straw for Vince Russo being released from the company. With a banged-up main event picture, Russo is said to have recommended Tank Abbott to win the World Championship at Souled Out 2000. Mind you, Tank never rose above the midcard picture in WCW, so that idea went over like a fart in church.
When his WCW career—and wrestling career as a whole—ended, his last feud was with the cruiserweight faction 3 Count. The boy band trio refused to make him a member after he’d been their biggest fan.
With that last storyline, he disappeared from wrestling as quickly as he appeared.
Salvaging Tank Abbott
This is a pretty easy one. Unlike other MMA crossovers to wrestling, Tank Abbott didn’t really show improvement in the ring. Then again, he didn’t have the time to do so as he was in and out of the business in under a year and didn’t go out on top.
Tank Abbott had charisma to him and he showed a willingness to be involved in whatever. I mean, his last storyline in wrestling was a comedic feud over not being accepted into a boy band of cruiserweights.
While he should’ve never been recommended for the World title picture—even as a transitional champion—Tank as he was looked like a good fit for the hardcore division in WCW or WWE. With the right partner, I could see Tank growing as a decent tag partner who was the mouth and possibly the power of the duo.
His salvageability was low but there was definitely a better place for him in wrestling without overusing him and eventually exposing his in-ring flaws.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sISOowq9FEk
