Fans To Decide Which Ring IMPACT Will Use Moving Forward; Aries, ECIII Speaking Out

[Loganity]

I agree with hatehabsforever. Personally I prefer the 4 sided ring but the 6 sides will win by a landslide. But what does it really matter? it's the actual in-ring product that needs improving. What disappoints me most about TNA is they used to have such a dynamic roster. I felt it was at it's best at the beginning of the Hogan Era. For people like me who still enjoy seeing the legends you had 3 icons in Hogan, Flair & Sting. Jeff Hardy who was quite possibly the biggest rising star at the time is now just another face in the crowd. AJ Styles and Sting leaving is the sign of how far things have fallen. Those two were more loyal to that company then anyone else. I use to watch regularly but every reason I use to tune in is gone. AJ Styles and Sting were the last straw. Though I do plan to watch the NYC shows.

People are jumping off that ship like it's the Titanic and they're worried about the ring? I think it is crucial for them to get guys like Angle and Bully Ray to stick around. They need to focus more on putting on the best matches possible like they used to instead of some of the cheesy storylines they currently have going on. For example get Dixie off TV. She needs to go back to taking pictures with fans like the nice person she is. She can't cut it on camera.

I'll always keep an eye on TNA and hope they succeed, but it's going to take a lot for me to have the interest in them I used to.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

ECIII, a rising star in the company, has joined Aries in decrying the six-sided ring.

@EthanCarterTNA: This is why democracy doesn't work.

You people should not have a voice when it comes to my well-being and safety. #Traditional #4sides

@EthanCarterTNA: You want a 6-sided ring once a year? Fine, I can compromise. Call it "Six-Sided-Fest" or something. But wrestling belongs in #4sides.​

As you can imagine, I agree with him, but something that I think we're all not thinking of here is that with the fact that the six-sided ring is almost certainly going to return, I wonder if these two, specifically Carter, might get some heat from the fans for it? Not good heat, either. Retaliation heat for sorta challenging the internet fans directly like this? I sure hope not.

 

[justinsayne]

6 sided ring isn't what caught my attention when I first saw TNA, it was the X-Division, & to a slightly lesser extant their tag division. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say "Man, that was a great match, but know what would've made it even better? if the ring had TWO more sides to it!!". If 4 sides is easier on the wrestlers bodies than go 4 sides.

 

[JJYanks121]

This debate to me reminds me of the DH debate in baseball. Yes, there are probably health risks to it based on physics and the like, but the real issue is that NOBODY ELSE USES IT.

In baseball, the DH is used in EVERY LEAGUE from college to the minors. So when you get to the pros and you come up in the national league, all of a sudden you have to hit for the first time in years. This isn't going to lead to successful endeavors and opens you up to injury solely because you're doing something your body isn't used to.

With the ring, no one on the indies uses this ring, nor do any schools train people in one. So you work your ass off on the indies, get to TNA, and have to re-learn how to run ropes and take bumps because they want to use a special ring? Seems like a detriment more than a help, especially when they have some talented ring workers that would benefit from using the type of ring they've honed their craft inside of.

That and me not wanting to see these guys end up like Dynamite Kid or worse makes me say 4 sides is the only answer.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

This debate to me reminds me of the DH debate in baseball. Yes, there are probably health risks to it based on physics and the like, but the real issue is that NOBODY ELSE USES IT.

In baseball, the DH is used in EVERY LEAGUE from college to the minors. So when you get to the pros and you come up in the national league, all of a sudden you have to hit for the first time in years. This isn't going to lead to successful endeavors and opens you up to injury solely because you're doing something your body isn't used to.

With the ring, no one on the indies uses this ring, nor do any schools train people in one. So you work your ass off on the indies, get to TNA, and have to re-learn how to run ropes and take bumps because they want to use a special ring? Seems like a detriment more than a help, especially when they have some talented ring workers that would benefit from using the type of ring they've honed their craft inside of.

That and me not wanting to see these guys end up like Dynamite Kid or worse makes me say 4 sides is the only answer.

I don't see how this learning process will take more than ten minutes for them. Are you suggesting the six-sided ring makes bumping and hitting ropes completely different? No, the ropes are at a different angle, so all they have to do is .. run towards them. The ring might not have as much bounce back, but they still bump the way they always do.

I'm sorry, but the six-sided ring was around for 9 years and I never ever saw anyone get injured because of it. I never saw anyone complain about it either, aside from AJ Styles who mentioned it's not as forgiving on the body which everyone read as: wheelchair within a year.

I also have a hard time belieivng the tweets from Aries and EC3. Just another way to promote the poll. Maybe Aries was being honest, EC3 was in character. Either way, I'm pretty sure they can live with it.

These guys land on their heads for a living, I'm pretty sure the six-sided ring won't make anyone quit. It never has, it never will. They're big boys, let them deal with it. Meanwhile, the ring will be what it has always been and that's an aesthetic change. Good, bad? Depends on what tickles your fancy. Aesthetically, I think it looks cooler than a four sided ring.

Let me rephrase that. TNA's four sided ring. I don't know why but WWE's ring looks so much better. It's ... brighter and the mat looks pearly white. TNA's always looks dirty. Maybe it's lighting, but the six sided ring looks alright.

Either way, it's just a prop at the end of the day. It differentiates TNA from WWE, it adds to whatever the fuck their identity is this year and it pleases the geometry Gods. Big deal.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

@EthanCarterTNA: This is why democracy doesn't work.

You people should not have a voice when it comes to my well-being and safety. #Traditional #4sides

@EthanCarterTNA: You want a 6-sided ring once a year? Fine, I can compromise. Call it "Six-Sided-Fest" or something. But wrestling belongs in #4sides.​

As you can imagine, I agree with him, but something that I think we're all not thinking of here is that with the fact that the six-sided ring is almost certainly going to return, I wonder if these two, specifically Carter, might get some heat from the fans for it? Not good heat, either. Retaliation heat for sorta challenging the internet fans directly like this? I sure hope not.

You maybe ain't that aware of this but the WWe has used "fan interaction" for quite some time. The thing is, if the decision is off any importance, they try to 'play' the audience into voting the way they want... and it nearly always works.

Now, Austin Aries who has a style that does bump from the ropes to the mat complaining might influence fans to vote #4sides... EC3's style is in no way dependent on the hardness of the ring, plus he has zero experience in that ring - it, therefore, strikes me that he is actually being used to encourage #6sides voters.


I'd just like to get back to previous comments by AJ Styles. When AJ was originally asked about the switch back to the traditional ring, he actually said that he wasn't for it (for the very reasons that many TNA fans want to see it return) but that it was easier on the body (because of the reasons I've previously stated). The thing is, he made these comments a short amount into the Hogan / Bischoff era; would he really have come right out and said that his new bosses were wrong to 'fix' an element that wasn't broken?

Wrestling fans who are used to the WWe are used to a big ring. From a purely visual standpoint (and humans are visual beings), when they're flicking channels and see a smaller ring the obvious split second conclusion is small scale wrestling. The 6 sides? Different ring = different product and can cause these same people to watch a while. It's here that your characters, storylines and in-ring performances need to step up.

Seriously, asides from a very small amount of people aware of concerns about the hardness of the ring, who wouldn't want the old ring back?

Looking TNA to be different to WWe? Tick 6 sides​

Fan of when the X Division was the talk of wrestling? Tick 6 sides​

Fan of when tag wrestling mattered? Tick 6 sides​

Fan of when the KOs mattered? Tick 6 sides​

Fan of Ultimate X? 6 sides of steel? KotM? Tick, tick & tick 6 sides​

Want to make Hogan / Bischoff a distant memory? Tick 6 sides​

Small or different? Think y'all get the idea.​

TNA is readdressing many things - Wolves, King, Sanada, Tigre Uno (X Division); Wolves, Bram & Magnus, 3D, Hardyz, even the VEs (Tag); reformation of the BPs, Terrell & Adams returning, new females (KOs); signs are that TNA is trying to return to the ways of the past... #6sides appears to be just another step along that road.

 

[JJYanks121]

I don't see how this learning process will take more than ten minutes for them. Are you suggesting the six-sided ring makes bumping and hitting ropes completely different? No, the ropes are at a different angle, so all they have to do is .. run towards them. The ring might not have as much bounce back, but they still bump the way they always do.

I'm sorry, but the six-sided ring was around for 9 years and I never ever saw anyone get injured because of it. I never saw anyone complain about it either, aside from AJ Styles who mentioned it's not as forgiving on the body which everyone read as: wheelchair within a year.

I also have a hard time belieivng the tweets from Aries and EC3. Just another way to promote the poll. Maybe Aries was being honest, EC3 was in character. Either way, I'm pretty sure they can live with it.

These guys land on their heads for a living, I'm pretty sure the six-sided ring won't make anyone quit. It never has, it never will. They're big boys, let them deal with it. Meanwhile, the ring will be what it has always been and that's an aesthetic change. Good, bad? Depends on what tickles your fancy. Aesthetically, I think it looks cooler than a four sided ring.

Let me rephrase that. TNA's four sided ring. I don't know why but WWE's ring looks so much better. It's ... brighter and the mat looks pearly white. TNA's always looks dirty. Maybe it's lighting, but the six sided ring looks alright.

Either way, it's just a prop at the end of the day. It differentiates TNA from WWE, it adds to whatever the fuck their identity is this year and it pleases the geometry Gods. Big deal.

Well actually, hitting the ropes is not just "running at them". Wrestlers are taught the amount of steps to take and there's really only one way to do it properly. So yeah, it matters for that. I don't see why there's such a fight from people for a ring, especially if there is ANY chance that it's worse for the performers. I. Like IDR, want to see my favorite performers for years to come. If it's about being different, find another way. You could also be different than wwe by hitting people in the head with chairs but that's just as stupid. Find something that else to rally behind, not this ring thing.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

That's major back tracking.

To my knowledge, it wasn't a physics thing. It was simply because they just added onto the existing four sided structure which had the detriment of two sides effectively being ring apron hardness. Theoretically, if a six sided was created from scratch with only the actual ring apron hard - the ring should have no adverse affect on the wrestlers.

As to the corners; yes, it was often apparent that they were tougher for balance... but adversely using the actual ropes was easier as they were more taut than they would be on a 4 side set up and, therefore, provided a more stable platform.

As someone who has worked a 4 sided ring of "low quality" and then a better one I can say it will make a difference. The 6 sided ring worked for the period it did because the talents involved all had plenty of time to relearn and the athleticism and "devil may care" to make it work. The points about balance, corners etc are valid points the vets moaning like Waltman either never got in the 6 sided ring or tried and failed with it cos it wasn't what they "knew". Likewise the current TNA roster are not used to it, not inclined to learn it (cos they all want to be in the E and figure TNA will go soon) or want to take the risks associated with it. It's valid and agreed, TNA have painted themselves into a massive corner... The fans WILL say 6 sided but a lot of the roster may balk... it might be one thing too far for them and they either contact their lawyers about getting out their deal or simply refuse or strike which forces TNA into an embarrassing climbdown.

There is an element of people not wanting to look bad at work and it'd be wrong to deny that but safety IS the most important thing... Austin Aries ends up a cripple from the 6 sided ring, even if the botch is HIS fault... he gets a $26m+ payout... The Chuck Austin case in WWE proved that and Austin himself was technically to blame... It's desperation on TNA's part and the wrestlers in the main, who trained in 4 sided rings, will have to go back to 4 sided rings rightly don't want any part of it.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

Well actually, hitting the ropes is not just "running at them". Wrestlers are taught the amount of steps to take and there's really only one way to do it properly. So yeah, it matters for that. I don't see why there's such a fight from people for a ring, especially if there is ANY chance that it's worse for the performers. I. Like IDR, want to see my favorite performers for years to come. If it's about being different, find another way. You could also be different than wwe by hitting people in the head with chairs but that's just as stupid. Find something that else to rally behind, not this ring thing.

Hold on, where exactly did you find out that a six sided ring shortens people's careers? You're acting like they're wrestling on glass shards for crying out loud. I think you're overestimating the "danger" of a six-sided ring. It's harder, not lethal.

Have you seen the rings in the indies? They're like freaking trampolines. ROH's ring is like a water bed. So when wrestlers go from the indies or ROH to WWE or TNA and the rings are not as forgiving to the body, is that a bad thing? Shouldn't WWE and TNA adjust their rings to the ones on the indies so these guys can walk when they're older?

I'm pretty sure these guys have far more dangerous things to worry about than the six-sided ring. Like, you know, not landing on your neck and becoming a full-time vegetable. That's one. And hey, it's happened in a four sided ring too. Hi, Steve. Relax, they know how to take bumps on fucking concrete, I think they can handle the six-sided ring of doom.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

I don't see how this learning process will take more than ten minutes for them. Are you suggesting the six-sided ring makes bumping and hitting ropes completely different? No, the ropes are at a different angle, so all they have to do is .. run towards them. The ring might not have as much bounce back, but they still bump the way they always do.

I'm sorry, but the six-sided ring was around for 9 years and I never ever saw anyone get injured because of it. I never saw anyone complain about it either, aside from AJ Styles who mentioned it's not as forgiving on the body which everyone read as: wheelchair within a year.

I also have a hard time belieivng the tweets from Aries and EC3. Just another way to promote the poll. Maybe Aries was being honest, EC3 was in character. Either way, I'm pretty sure they can live with it.

These guys land on their heads for a living, I'm pretty sure the six-sided ring won't make anyone quit. It never has, it never will. They're big boys, let them deal with it. Meanwhile, the ring will be what it has always been and that's an aesthetic change. Good, bad? Depends on what tickles your fancy. Aesthetically, I think it looks cooler than a four sided ring.

Let me rephrase that. TNA's four sided ring. I don't know why but WWE's ring looks so much better. It's ... brighter and the mat looks pearly white. TNA's always looks dirty. Maybe it's lighting, but the six sided ring looks alright.

Either way, it's just a prop at the end of the day. It differentiates TNA from WWE, it adds to whatever the fuck their identity is this year and it pleases the geometry Gods. Big deal.

You clearly never have wrestled or even set foot in a ring. Much less learned in 10 minutes to run in a new one... it takes a lot of time to get your stride right to hit ropes, used to the "give" on taking a bump and the sheer feat of adjusting your movements to a new enviroment. Wrestling is often an inch perfect science, one inch or 40 degrees the wrong way and you are Misawa.

The points made about the 6 sided ring are VERY valid, angles are different for the buckles, thus so is foot placement, power and the rotations needed for moves off of them... it IS very different... the issue is more selfish than the wrestlers will admit, but it's their neck at the end of the day... unless you KNOW, don't assume it's easy... it bloody isn't.... I;m 36 and walk like a 46 year old at times, mainly cos of bad bumps on shitty rings and mats and trust me you only ever land on your head once... you either die, get crippled or damn well make sure it never happens again or as I did, get spooked and do something else...changing the ring on you to increase those chances is NEVER gonna be a popular option among anyone who actually has to work it some will accept it... but the days of blindling just leaping are long gone.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

You clearly never have wrestled or even set foot in a ring. Much less learned in 10 minutes to run in a new one... it takes a lot of time to get your stride right to hit ropes, used to the "give" on taking a bump and the sheer feat of adjusting your movements to a new enviroment. Wrestling is often an inch perfect science, one inch or 40 degrees the wrong way and you are Misawa.

The points made about the 6 sided ring are VERY valid, angles are different for the buckles, thus so is foot placement, power and the rotations needed for moves off of them... it IS very different... the issue is more selfish than the wrestlers will admit, but it's their neck at the end of the day... unless you KNOW, don't assume it's easy... it bloody isn't.... I;m 36 and walk like a 46 year old at times, mainly cos of bad bumps on shitty rings and mats and trust me you only ever land on your head once... you either die, get crippled or damn well make sure it never happens again or as I did, get spooked and do something else...changing the ring on you to increase those chances is NEVER gonna be a popular option among anyone who actually has to work it some will accept it... but the days of blindling just leaping are long gone.

Be that as it may, TNA wrestlers seemed to do a pretty good job at adjusting the oh so difficult rope hit for nine years. Somehow, and I don't know how, maybe they have super powers, they just ... learned how to do it right. They adjusted. Just like they adjust their characters when they sign a contract. And then they were a-OK.

Moreover, no one got injured because of the ring. No one took time off because of the ring. No one died because of the ring. So what the hell is the problem with the ring? And why do we care of all people. I ain't takin' a bump on it. I'd die. I'd shit myself, and then I would die. I'm a fan. I watch the damn thing and six sides looks better.

 

[Anti-IWC-Marks]

There's no creedance to the warnings that six-sides is more dangerous. TNA did very well for years when they had six sides.

I do like the idea of having some PPV's or shows six, and the others four. Maybe one show a month be six sides, or one or two PPV's a year.

 

[Dirk]

Also, I am a bit confused as to why the bumps are apparently worse in a 6 sided ring than the regular 4 sided one? There may be a logical answer for this, but either I've missed a post explaining it or I just cannot see what it is. Can someone explain this?

I'm talking out of my arse here, but with a regular ring, the distance between posts (and I'm assuming the wooden boards as well) are longer, meaning that it gives way a little more (like how a long twig is more bendy than a short one). Bully was nice enough to completely rip up the ring at Slamniversary to give us a look, but that's as far as my knowledge goes.

To me, TNA already showcases crazier bumps than the WWE, so putting additional strain on the performers would shorten their careers further.

I like four sides, but TNA can do whatever they like.

 

[ABMorales787]

First off, Sean Waltman should shut up. I don't feel like taking into consideration the opinions of a man who writes more cursing in a sentence than an actual message. Especially one who's greatest success was coasting off better wrestlers.

As for this silly argument about the 6 sided ring being harder? The fuck? What? Is padding one of TNA's many cost cutting measures? Because last I checked, rectangle, hexagon, circle, triangle, you can still fill the damn thing with some padding. I've set foot in rings, albeit for Martial Arts, but it doesn't change the fact you can pad the thing out. They do it for tournaments when kids compete so why not the TNA ring?

As for the sides not being favorable for jumping off the turnbuckle instead of the ropes, ummm.... Balance? You need that for either of the two. 6 sides allows for more angles of jumping and takes away the little odd quick of wrestlers falling parallel on the ground perfectly to be splashed on.

I'd buy into their arguments, but this is the same roster that was equally "mad" when they came to work and found a traditional 4 sided ring in 2010. They say the fans don't make up their minds, ignoring the blatant complaining going since then, but now the roster is raising a fuzz about it.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

First off, Sean Waltman should shut up. I don't feel like taking into consideration the opinions of a man who writes more cursing in a sentence than an actual message. Especially one who's greatest success was coasting off better wrestlers.

As for this silly argument about the 6 sided ring being harder? The fuck? What? Is padding one of TNA's many cost cutting measures? Because last I checked, rectangle, hexagon, circle, triangle, you can still fill the damn thing with some padding. I've set foot in rings, albeit for Martial Arts, but it doesn't change the fact you can pad the thing out. They do it for tournaments when kids compete so why not the TNA ring?

As for the sides not being favorable for jumping off the turnbuckle instead of the ropes, ummm.... Balance? You need that for either of the two. 6 sides allows for more angles of jumping and takes away the little odd quick of wrestlers falling parallel on the ground perfectly to be splashed on.

I'd buy into their arguments, but this is the same roster that was equally "mad" when they came to work and found a traditional 4 sided ring in 2010. They say the fans don't make up their minds, ignoring the blatant complaining going since then, but now the roster is raising a fuzz about it.

Well, actually the only people who seem to be against it were an in-character ECIII and Austin Aries. So it's only Austin Aries. And an ancient comment made by AJ Styles. If AJ never said what he said, none of the parrots here would be repeating his argument to death. It wouldn't even occur to us that it's harder or it's a risk or any of that bull.

Six sides is making a come back, literally no one else seems to have a problem with it aside from the IWC who are so worried about wrestlers' health. Isn't that a little ironic?

"Oh, go ahead and basically cripple yourself for my entertainment, but don't go too far, we want you in a wheelchair by the time you're 60, not 40. Because we care."

 

[Rayne]

I'd buy into their arguments, but this is the same roster that was equally "mad" when they came to work and found a traditional 4 sided ring in 2010. They say the fans don't make up their minds, ignoring the blatant complaining going since then, but now the roster is raising a fuzz about it.

Generalizations are fun, because it must have been the exact same people on the roster complaining, or it was the TNA Locker Room UNIMIND complaining each time, instead of individual people expressing their own individual issues.

To the people who said "but a LOT of people aren't complaining", uh, duh. It's surprising anyone at all is, and four years ago when people thought TNA had a future, they wouldn't have. (They complained not about the change in shape of the ring, but about the fact that the first they found out about it was when they showed up for the Genesis PPV.) For all of you people with illusions about how your employers in the future will respect your freedom to voice your opinin when it comes time to signing contracts and paying money, no, they don't. I'm more surprised anyone spoke up at all, but the people speaking up are those that have had their shot at the big company in the pro wrestling game- they have enough name cred to get hired anywhere else out there, amd TNA isn't going to punish their performers because we're already getting main events like Magnus vs. Eric Young.

To those of you who don't understand how a six-sided ring can be harder, I invite you to try a small experiment you can set up yourself. Go find a series of small tables with different amounts of legs (if you live in an area with yard sales in the summer, all the better.) The three-legged table will be very flexible in the middle; the four-legged table, somewhat less so. The more legs you add, the sturdier the table, and you can pad that thing until it's a memory-foam mattress, it doesn't change the flexibility of the support structure. The only way a six-sided ring could be as flexible as a four-sided one were if it were about (speed math here) 40% larger, or manufactured in an entirely different way than any other professional wrestling ring. I'm going to make the safe call and say that TNA has not invented a new ring setup which revolutionizes ring construction.

But talking about ring sizes, this is professional wrestling here. We don't look at facts and then extrapolate meaningful conclusions from the evidence we have available to us, we decide what we want and then say that everything that disagrees is wrong or lying- so what if they actually use the ring in question? We have posters here that saw those performers on television. It can't be that hard.

Yes, the ring is harder. If you don't understand the physics in play, just trust Uncle Rayne on this one. As far as what that actually means, 4-sides, 6-sides, who cares? It's New TNA in an old wrapper. If you haven't enjoyed the past few months, or years, changing the ring shape isn't going to get you to come back.