Do you miss the Six-Sided Ring?

[a0161613]

I guess this could be seen as a rip off of IDR's Success, Bust or In-Between threads but it think it's appropriate. No poll though. I was thinking about this last night and I think I miss the six-sided ring.

Don't get me wrong. I thought it was a bad idea at first but since then it's made no difference. It hasn't improved the product but it's not made it worse.

I think I like the entrance ramp too but in general it looks a little weird. As someone who didn't watch much WCW, I prefer the angled ramp set-up.

The six sides was a staple of TNA until its' last house show in January. There's no doubt it played some part in getting noticed, as well being a crucial part in its' history. With so many great matches happening within that ring from Six Sides of Steel to Ultimate X to Steel Asylum, there is no doubt that TNA brought in a new era when the four sided ring came in.

The change is inextricably linked with the change back to Monday nights and the Hogan/Bischoff era, inclduding that bizarre and embarrasing night at Genesis (I believe).

But do you think TNA did the right thing? Did it need to be changed? Could it ever come back?

 

[Ferbian]

While I didn't watch the 6 sided ring a lot, I have to admit it was an unique thing, it was different and it opened up for different spots and high flying moves that couldn't be performed in a 4 sided ring most likely.

But even considering that, I personally don't miss it from the bits I saw of it, I've been used to watching the 4 sided ring in WWE, and has grown to like it and prefer it, it's not because I'm against the 6 sided ring, I just throw my preference to the 4 sided more than the 6 sided.

I won't say whether TNA did the right or the wrong thing, because it's all about what they felt was needed, and if they felt it was needed to throw out the 6 sided ring, well I guess then it should be the right choice, even if some fans doesn't exactly support the choice.

And not supporting the choice is something I find somewhat odd because while sure it was something that made TNA different, it doesn't change the styles of which people wrestle, A.J is highly loved for his in-ring ability, what's to say he can't perform like that in a 4 sided ring? oh right, he can.

I don't think it exactly needed to be changed, because it was fine, why fix something that's broken as you say, but even with that, I can't say that I don't support the move to a 4 sided ring.

It also makes it a little easier to bring in new guys who has been used to the 4 sided ring for their whole career, and while they will adapt as well, the majority of all people on the current roster is most likely used to the 4 sided ring at one point in their career.

And sure they could bring it back, I don't see why not, it's all about what the promotion feels is the better choice, if they feel the 6 sided ring is what's missing, and if they want to bring it back, they'll do it, and just on the opposite thing, if they don't think it's whats needed, they won't change it.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

I do not miss it, not one bit. I thought it looked cheap (like the Impact Zone still does), and was nothing more than a gimmick. Any kind of match you can put on in a six-sided ring, you can easily fit to a four-sided ring. I'm not trying to bash TNA. I give them credit for trying something (sort of) new. But I never cared for it.

I'm not sure that it's hurt big spots, or anything like that. I think what's hurt big spots (for you spot junkies out there) is booking. On Impact, you never see a match that lasts longer than 10 minutes, and more times than not a contest doesn't even go that long. And if a match does go longer than 10 minutes, you can bet your ass it isn't going to be an X-Division match. I can't comment on the X-Division PPV matches, because I usually choose not to order TNA PPV's.

High-flyers have taken a hit during the Hogan/Bischoff regime. I have never been a big-spot guy myself, but I understand a good deal of TNA's audience is really into the X-Division. Hogan should take notice.

So, in all honesty, no, I do not miss the six-sided ring. But, I can understand why so many die-hard TNA fans (X-Division fans mainly) would look at the piss-poor state of the X-Division, and believe going to four sides has something to do with it.

P.S.- The ramp sucks. It sucked in WCW, and it sucks now.

 

[ABMorales787]

I do not miss it, not one bit. I thought it looked cheap (like the Impact Zone still does), and was nothing more than a gimmick. Any kind of match you can put on in a six-sided ring, you can easily fit to a four-sided ring. I'm not trying to bash TNA. I give them credit for trying something (sort of) new. But I never cared for it.

I'm not sure that it's hurt big spots, or anything like that. I think what's hurt big spots (for you spot junkies out there) is booking. On Impact, you never see a match that lasts longer than 10 minutes, and more times than not a contest doesn't even go that long. And if a match does go longer than 10 minutes, you can bet your ass it isn't going to be an X-Division match. I can't comment on the X-Division PPV matches, because I usually choose not to order TNA PPV's.

High-flyers have taken a hit during the Hogan/Bischoff regime. I have never been a big-spot guy myself, but I understand a good deal of TNA's audience is really into the X-Division. Hogan should take notice.

So, in all honesty, no, I do not miss the six-sided ring. But, I can understand why so many die-hard TNA fans (X-Division fans mainly) would look at the piss-poor state of the X-Division, and believe going to four sides has something to do with it.

I always enjoyed the 6 sided ring because it made TNA look different. It did not look cheap to me at all. Its a ring. It shouldn't matter how many sides it has. Funny you mention the 10 minutes of wrestling on iMPACT! and not ordering the PPV's. It just seems like TNA want's to save the wrestling for the PPV's. I miss the old ring, but its not something I'd die about. It just have one flaw...

P.S.- The ramp sucks. It sucked in WCW, and it sucks now.

That damn ramp. You have a roster full of highflyers. You just cut off half of their offense. You'll never see AJ Styles do the Shooting Star to the outside. Or a Samoa Joe Suicide Dive. Or a Plancha from Supermex. Its all thanks to that dumb ass ramp. Its an obstruction. Get rid of it.

 

[Captain America]

At first I didn't like the 6-sided ring, but it quickly grew on me. It helped set TNA apart and was unique and original. Lethal Lockdown without the 6 sides of steel doesn't seem right at all to me. I really wish they'd go back to the 6 sided ring. It also allows for a lot of cool spots for the X-division wrestlers as well to use. In my opinion the 6-sided ring was just another unnecessary casualty of the whole Bischoff/Hogan regime.

 

[rondiesel2005]

I always enjoyed the 6 sided ring because it made TNA look different. It did not look cheap to me at all. Its a ring. It shouldn't matter how many sides it has. Funny you mention the 10 minutes of wrestling on iMPACT! and not ordering the PPV's. It just seems like TNA want's to save the wrestling for the PPV's. I miss the old ring, but its not something I'd die about. It just have one flaw...


That damn ramp. You have a roster full of highflyers. You just cut off half of their offense. You'll never see AJ Styles do the Shooting Star to the outside. Or a Samoa Joe Suicide Dive. Or a Plancha from Supermex. Its all thanks to that dumb ass ramp. Its an obstruction. Get rid of it.

I notice not too many wrestlers now are not doing much of high flyin moves includin AJ styles. I think thats what the 6 sided ring did, give the guys all the abilities to do a lot of moves in the 6 sided-ring..To tell u the truth i dont know what TNA is doing, oh yeah the ramp do suck big time

 

[tnavswwe]

i loved the 6sixed ring it 1 of the things that made tna... TNA now it regular wrestling wait i just got an idea what if they used the 6sided ring for Xplosion

 

[ccotreau1]

What I wish TNA would have done was keep the 6 sided ring, and use the ramp that WCW used, which TNA currently have. Make them truly unique

 

[cmillsa1]

It seems that tna with hogan/bischoff are trying to be like the wcw. If history serves me right, that failed. Dont get me wrong i loved it early on. I do really miss the 6 sides

 

[TheMainEvent]

I don't even realize they don't have the ring anymore. It looked gimmicky and small. The foursided is fine. Sure they have reduced high flying moves bt that's a good thing in my opinion. Less high spots mean more storytelling and less injury potential.

 

[Vintage]

I do kind of miss the 6 sided ring, but I think the flow of matches has improved with the 4 sided ring. I think only the X-Division may suffer from not using it, I'm sure they came to rely on it for various spots.

The Ramp being physically connected to the 4 sided ring is the problem. The ramp in general just doesn't work with that particular setup. The Ringside area is really cramped for space in general. However all that people can't do moves stuff is bs, you have 3 other sides you can use and very easy to manipulate barricades.

 

[naimliss]

Am I the only one who thinks tna needs i bigger ring? I liked the six sided ring, my only beef was that it was too small. when they introduced the 4 sided back to tna, I thought hey it might be cool but instead they unveil a small ass ring! they really do need a bigger ring and more room around the ring!

 

[Mr_billy]

I don't really care if the ring is 4 or 6 sided, but the ramp is what hurts, it takes room away from the already cramped studio, kind of making it like a cramped office cubicle, but the ramp would work in a large area. They just need a larger sound stage to help with more of the high flying many of you are missing. The sides of the ring have no effect on flying, watch AAA on Galavision sometimes, my Spanish sucks, but the in ring stories are awesome.

 

[ECDublegend]

The reason why TNA caught my attention was due to the 6-sided ring. I remember i was flicking through the channels and saw TNA for the first time because Kurt Angle wrestling in a freakin 6-sided ring, something I hadn't seen before. I thought it was a pretty innovative idea and it was cool for awhile, but through the years I started to not like it as much because it just seemed gimmicky and bulky. To be honest, the only discussion that Hogan has made since coming to TNA was the change to the 4-sided ring.

 

[Mr. Conman]

Like most of everyone here i miss the six sided ring because that is what made tna unique that the other companies and the ramp is a fuckin waste of space. I didnt watch wcw b/c i tuned into wrestling at around 2002 but as i watched some old wcw tapes and it looked stupid. Because of the ramp u cant see the high flyers do their thing inside the ring

 

[It's Damn Real!]

No, I don't, because it was a gimmick that had no purpose other than to be a gimmick. Any of you that miss it, answer me one question – what did the six-sided ring accompilsh that couldn't be replicated, duplicated or surpassed by a traditional four-sided ring?

Unique to the American audience who weren't privy to watch it the way the Mexican audience have been as it may have been, the six-sided ring was little more than an X Division playpen that hurt the match quality of bigger and more traditional heavyweights who couldn't maximize their match potential wrestling in it by playing off the extra facets the way the X stars could. In short, it actually did more damage to the overall product than it helped.

 

[klunderbunker]

To an extent yes but not really. At the end of the day, TNA has far bigger problems than the shape of their ring. It's yet another issue of TNA losing anything unique they have about it, such as with their lack of the KOTM match this year. It was a weird idea that didn't reallyu work, but it was TNA's weird idea that didn't really work. This is turning it into just another wrestling company. I can live with it though. It's just a ring at the end of the day so it's not like this is going to change the entire wrestling company or anything like that. I will kind of miss it, because it comes out looking like just TNA losing its identity and becoming another souless wrestling company. Like I said, not a big deal, but kind of part of a larger problem.

 

[Megadeth]

I do miss it, although it was never a make or break thing for me to watch TNA. While I do agreefor the most part that from a practical standpoint, there isnt really anything that you cant do in a 4-sided ring that you can do in a 6 sided one. But I miss it just because it was a very visual thing to help seperate them from other companies. In Eric Bischoff's book, he talked about when they had the idea for Nitro, he wanted to do pretty much everything he could different on Nitro from Raw to differentiate them, and I think the 6-sided ring had that effect. You cant try to be exactly like the WWE and have any hope of beating them. Why would anyone watch a WWE ripoff when they could just watch the real deal. Thus, the only way for another company to reach that level of sucess, in my opinion at least, is to be different, and be a true alternative, and I think the six sides really kinda personified their attempt to be different. That being said, however, because most wrestling is associated with a 4-sided ring and not 6-sided, I think they can use a 4-sided ring and still try to be different, it was just one of the most obvious visual aides to show they were different.

Plus, at Lockdown this year, it was kinda wierd not hearing them refer to the cage as the "Six Sides of Steel", which personally, I just think sounds cooler than just calling it a steel cage.

 

[jccool420]

Yes, I was very dissapointed that they didn't use the six-sided ring at Lockdown...

I can understand for regular use, that they were bringing in guys that never worked in the Six-sided ring so they probably didn't want them fucking up spots and looking stupid... But, I do miss the the old ring, it made TNA look different, it was bigger, and I don't think it took away from the heavyweights at all...

Many of you ask the question, what can be done in a six sided ring, that can't be done in a normal ring... Well, what can be done in a four sided ring, that can't and couldn't be done in the six-sided ring???

I'm actually surprised this thread made it this long, last time I said anything about the ring, my thread was locked... Then I got banned for a week... DAMN...

Anyway, I think if they are not going to go back to the six-sided ring, they should use it for PPVs like Lockdown and Destination X... Make it a special attraction for the shows that used the ring the best...

 

[ABMorales787]

No, I don't, because it was a gimmick that had no purpose other than to be a gimmick. Any of you that miss it, answer me one question – what did the six-sided ring accompilsh that couldn't be replicated, duplicated or surpassed by a traditional four-sided ring?

Not much really. Its no different. however it made TNA stick out pretty well and drew attention. I still scratch my head wondering how a differently shaped ring made a company look cheap or second rate. It didn't hold UFC back when it was a side show or when people associated it with wrestling. When you think MMA, you think Steel Cage. It wasn't always the case. K-1 and Pride utilized a regular Boxing ring.They may be defunct now, but the ring had nothing to do with it. They did however look different to UFC and KOTC because of it. They differed from the competition. Something needs. I'm not saying they need the ring to stand out, I'm saying the ring made them stand out. If they can find something else (that isn't that goddamn ramp) then great.

Unique to the American audience who weren't privy to watch it the way the Mexican audience have been as it may have been, the six-sided ring was little more than an X Division playpen that hurt the match quality of bigger and more traditional heavyweights who couldn't maximize their match potential wrestling in it by playing off the extra facets the way the X stars could. In short, it actually did more damage to the overall product than it helped.

Well first, a little cross cultural education would never hurt anybody. Second, I was one to point out that Super Heavyweights benefited from the 6 sides more than the standard 4. Because they are slow. The 6 sided ring was smaller, therefor less traveling from one side to the other. Guys like Kevin Nash and Abyss would actually give you the illusion that they are moving fast when in reality, there's less of a travel space for the guys to traverse. So lots of new talent was coming in back in January. I don't see the problem. Kurt adapted to it quite fast. Why couldn't RVD or Anderson? But like I said, it made them look different, but they don't need it to look different.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Not much really. Its no different. however it made TNA stick out pretty well and drew attention. I still scratch my head wondering how a differently shaped ring made a company look cheap or second rate. It didn't hold UFC back when it was a side show or when people associated it with wrestling. When you think MMA, you think Steel Cage. It wasn't always the case. K-1 and Pride utilized a regular Boxing ring.They may be defunct now, but the ring had nothing to do with it. They did however look different to UFC and KOTC because of it. They differed from the competition. Something needs. I'm not saying they need the ring to stand out, I'm saying the ring made them stand out. If they can find something else (that isn't that goddamn ramp) then great.

But you have to understand, Riaku – the UFC didn't have a century+ old tradition of only being competed in a four-sided ring to compete with. The UFC reinvented cage fighting entirely, because before this it's tradition was marginal at best. K-1 and Pride may have used a traditional four-sided ring, but their popularity was nothing to write home about until the UFC came into focus, and neither were as generationally defining as what Dana White was able to accomplish.

TNA and pro-wrestling didn't have the same freedoms, so in breaking that century-old tradition, they backed themselves into a corner when the additional sides didn't truly add anything to the product the way the octagon added to the UFC.

Well first, a little cross cultural education would never hurt anybody. Second, I was one to point out that Super Heavyweights benefited from the 6 sides more than the standard 4. Because they are slow. The 6 sided ring was smaller, therefor less traveling from one side to the other. Guys like Kevin Nash and Abyss would actually give you the illusion that they are moving fast when in reality, there's less of a travel space for the guys to traverse. So lots of new talent was coming in back in January. I don't see the problem. Kurt adapted to it quite fast. Why couldn't RVD or Anderson? But like I said, it made them look different, but they don't need it to look different.

But guys like Kevin Nash, Scott Steiner, etc. also had choreographed movesets learned in a four-sided ring over years prior that didn't really apply nearly as well in the six-sided ring as they did in the four. Furthermore, standard spots like an Irish-Whip turned bounce off the ropes would throw them off. Steiner I know had a lot of difficulty with those specifically.