By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

TNA wrestler Abyss says the WWE Hall of Fame ring given to him by Hulk Hogan holds more value to him than any potential World Title could mean to him in pro wrestling...and it's a shoot, brother.

"That ring, to me, means more than any World Title that I could ever win. It means more than anything else in this business that I've ever been given. And I mean that as a shoot," Abyss said in an IGN.com podcast recorded this morning. "For Hulk Hogan to give me that ring, and he did, as a shoot, give me that ring, it inspires me and I draw energy from it. If Hulk Hogan has faith in me, then I'm okay."

Abyss also teased a potential new look with the Hogan association, but said he doesn't anticipate the mask coming off anytime soon.

"I don't know about the mask - you don't know what lies ahead of what's down the road. I think you'll see some nice change-ups to the look tonight," Abyss said.

Abyss also talked about trying to balance the hardcore wrestling match style he wore out and focusing more on evolving his character, plus other subjects in the podcast interview with IGN.com available for download here.

Caldwell's Analysis: I was being critical of TNA's storylines in my Caldwell's Take this weekend saying the TNA World Title has been reduced to the second-most-valuable prize or accomplishment in TNA behind a WWE Hall of Fame ring, but apparently I wasn't far off from the truth, at least in Abyss's mind. At this rate, TNA should just center their storylines around possession of another company's HOF ring and book "WWE Hall of Fame ring" title matches on PPV. By adding one "title," they can get rid of the X Division Title, which has zero value at this point barring CPR starting tonight on Impact.

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