Posted By James Walsh on 07/09/26
The Six Sided Ring Sucked
When TNA began in 2002, a traditional, albeit Jerry-rigged and shotty, a traditional squared circle was used. 4 pots, 3 ropes, and a square mat the way wrestling has always been prsented in every corner of the planet except for a now WWE owned pet pet project in Mexico which also, for the last while of it existing, had that ugly 6-sided-ring using a vomit colored ring mat as well. Maybe TNA should have tried that in 2004 also? Because, in 2004, TNA changed to the six-sided ring.
The logistics of using a different shaped ring came when TNA was getting off of Wednesday night pay per view and instead put their focus on their weekly, paid for, FOX Sports Net broadcasts. TNA purchased that time, by the way. It was like an infomercial you still see at midnight for Time Life's Sounds of the 60's. Instead, it was presented as if it was a signed TV deal presented on Friday afternoon on FOX Sports Net. The reason why the ring was used was to "stand out from WWE."
That excuse kills me. "We wanted to look different from WWE and to let people know we weren't WWE." Oh? So the fact that there were 250 people in a sound stage didn't make the casual public realize, "This might not be WWE. WWE plays NBA arenas and this clearly isn't one." Or, and go with me on this one, perhaps the Dallas Cowboys video board sized TNA logo that was over the ring and in just about every other camera shot might make the casual fan notice that it isn't a WWE logo?
To the viewing public, the six sided ring was awkward. When a guy was shot off into the ropes, he could end up hitting a buckle. Because, you know, where is the buckles? Where is the ropes? How do we navigate that?
In fact, the TNA video game was basically the same as the AAA video game because it was harder to code for the stupid ring shape than a real, actual wrestling ring. So, it had a negative impact on the video game as well... At least TNA Impact the video game was complete unlike the unfinished disaster Kenny Omega put out. Hey, they should reward him with a world title for a job not completed! Oh, they just did.
When you watch Dark Side of the Ring and they show the clips of the glory days of TNA, which apparently were 2002 through 2009, did you notice that the vast majority of those clips were before the shift to the stupid shaped ring? As the kids say, "Tell me I'm right about the stupid shaped ring looking like hot garbage without telling me the stupid shaped ring looked like hot garbage."
When Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff joined TNA in 2010, the very first thing they did was go back to a real wrestling ring. It was the correct move. And, it signified a change in logistics in the company. We can debate if the Nasty Boys needed to be brought in to TNA. I'd tend to agree that they didn't fit in that presentation whatsoever and it had very little to do with age and everything to do with the pre-set style of wrestling that TNA fans were used to and they weren't it. These are conversations I'm willing to have. But, the shape of the ring? I'll quote Hulk Hogan from TNA Genesis 2010... "Pro wrestling takes place in a ring with 4 sides." Hulk was, as usual, 100% correct.