It's Official The Six-Sided Ring is Back

[It's Damn Real!]

Jesus Christ, we're dipping into physics over the damn ring. And people still say the sides don't matter? I still see the alledged extra dangers of 6 sides to be perfectly fixable with extra padding or such.


I'd argue Newtons 3rd Law but I barely know California's laws. I'm too blue collar for that. I go by what I know about construction.

Of course we are, as the results are a legitimate health concern.

The sides do not matter to the product. They matter to the performers. To their health. Their long-term health. That is the reason I was against this, and I believe the same reason Rayne, JJ and others have shared.

 

[klunderbunker]

I've stepped foot in a TNA ring before and I can tell you that there is a bit of give, but not a ton. You could feel the hard surface under the padding but there was a good bit of thickness between them. That being said, you can feel what's beneath it just walking over it. Imagine how it feels when you have a full sized wrestler slamming you down onto it. The padding will help but not a ton.

As far as the danger aspect goes, there's another one that has to be considered. As mentioned, not a ton of organizations use a six sided ring. Most of the wrestlers in TNA don't ahve a ton of experience in one. You're asking fully trained wrestlers to learn a completely new style and way of keeping themselves safe, because you want to let the fans decide something? That's rather short sighted, meaning it's perfect for TNA.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

It's a ring, who really cares how many sides they wrestle in? It changes nothing at the end of the day, except maybe how many wrestlers get hurt.

At first I was fine with bringing it back because its unique but enough wrestlers have come out to say how much harder it is on your body to change my stance on that. If the ring really is rougher on the body (not to mention the issues that may arise without experience in a 6 sided ring) then they shouldn't be using it, end of story.

It's nice they got fan input, it certainly created a buzz but we aren't talking about a random match here that lasts 5-10 minutes, we are talking about a long term change that can impact its performers in a very negative way and it all happened because TNA thought it was a good idea to put the decision in the hands of the fans, that's just ******ed. It's cool to get fans voting with certain things but this isn't one of them and TNA should be smarter than that.

 

[Rayne]

Jesus Christ, we're dipping into physics over the damn ring. And people still say the sides don't matter? I still see the alledged extra dangers of 6 sides to be perfectly fixable with extra padding or such.


I'd argue Newtons 3rd Law but I barely know California's laws. I'm too blue collar for that. I go by what I know about construction.

Which is why when you have a question about the mathematics of force being distributed, you ask someone who understands the physics. That's great that you're a blue collar guy, that doesn't change the force/mass equations that are in play here. They do not require your personal understanding to work. I have no grasp on fluid mechanics, but there are smarter people than I who have developed equations to explain the behavior of a system that can be verified through experimentation.

You aren't a Senator, so just roll with the science here.

 

[Papa Pillman]

I get the arguments about the bumps being stiffer, but the whole argument about guys not being used to wrestling in it, and therefore being confused by the angles and so forth has always sounded monumentally stupid to me. Getting footing on the top rope due to an acute turnbuckle angle makes some sense, but guys being lost as to how to maneuver the ring and run the ropes because they've never worked in six sides is just ridiculous. If a guy truly can't figure out the natural angles of irish whipping opponents into ropes or turnbuckles; running the ropes for crisscrosses, drop-downs, leapfrogs, etc.; or using the momentum of a rope run to set up a dive to the outside; he either has weird perception problems or is drastically overthinking things. A three sided, five sided, seven sided ring, etc.? That I get. But the six sided ring is a perfect hexagon, meaning every rope has a parallel set of ropes, exactly as it does in a four sided ring. The ONLY difference from that perspective is that there are three parallel stretches of ropes instead of two. If an extra parallel plain of ropes in the ring causes a guy to be that confused about ring positioning, he's likely in the wrong business(or badly failed the most fundamental portions of his 9th grade geometry course).

 

[JJYanks121]

I've stepped foot in a TNA ring before and I can tell you that there is a bit of give, but not a ton. You could feel the hard surface under the padding but there was a good bit of thickness between them. That being said, you can feel what's beneath it just walking over it. Imagine how it feels when you have a full sized wrestler slamming you down onto it. The padding will help but not a ton.

As far as the danger aspect goes, there's another one that has to be considered. As mentioned, not a ton of organizations use a six sided ring. Most of the wrestlers in TNA don't ahve a ton of experience in one. You're asking fully trained wrestlers to learn a completely new style and way of keeping themselves safe, because you want to let the fans decide something? That's rather short sighted, meaning it's perfect for TNA.

Stop stealing my ideas and adding that Kb snark to make it your own!

Yeah, in the last thread I made the baseball analogy and it holds true. You work the indies for years, get to tna, then have to re-learn basic wrestling stuff like running the ropes because tna out your job and health in the hands of fans who don't really know what it entails? Tough one.

 

[ABMorales787]

Stop stealing my ideas and adding that Kb snark to make it your own!

Yeah, in the last thread I made the baseball analogy and it holds true. You work the indies for years, get to tna, then have to re-learn basic wrestling stuff like running the ropes because tna out your job and health in the hands of fans who don't really know what it entails? Tough one.

When do wrestlers not run the ropes straight?

I seriously see everyone making total mountains out of molehills. If it's really as hazardous as it is, why aren't more wrestlers speaking out. The TNA workforce has allegedly threatened to walk out in the past over lack of pay. Would they not do the same if it meant the well beings? Furthermore why was Aries the only one to give a reason and then say it wasn't that big a deal? ECIII was totally vague and probably in character and Sean Waltman, well who gives a shit about X Pac anyway?

I think we are making far more of a fuzz about this than needed. Wrestlers are still gonna run the ropes straight and 80% of the roster do more springboards than jumps off the top ropes. You don't need the ropes to slam someone. You don't need to take curves running in a wrestling ring. There's a turnbuckle on the opposite side of each one. There's still a set of ropes on the other side when you bounce off a set. What exactly is the complicated adjustment?

 

[klunderbunker]

When do wrestlers not run the ropes straight?

I seriously see everyone making total mountains out of molehills. If it's really as hazardous as it is, why aren't more wrestlers speaking out. The TNA workforce has allegedly threatened to walk out in the past over lack of pay. Would they not do the same if it meant the well beings? Furthermore why was Aries the only one to give a reason and then say it wasn't that big a deal? ECIII was totally vague and probably in character and Sean Waltman, well who gives a shit about X Pac anyway?

I think we are making far more of a fuzz about this than needed. Wrestlers are still gonna run the ropes straight and 80% of the roster do more springboards than jumps off the top ropes. You don't need the ropes to slam someone. You don't need to take curves running in a wrestling ring. There's a turnbuckle on the opposite side of each one. There's still a set of ropes on the other side when you bounce off a set. What exactly is the complicated adjustment?

The second to last word is what sums this whole thing up: complicated. At the end of the day, the vast majority of us have no idea what it's like to actually wrestle a match. I'm considered somewhat of an authority on wrestling knowledge, but there's a whole world of wrestling that I'll never know about or truly understand because I'm a fan and not a performer. If some wrestlers, even a handful, say something about working in the ring, I'm going to believe them as I have zero way to prove them wrong. Yeah it may look easy, but it's an area where most of us will never have first hand experience.

 

[Bockwinkel's Class]

The second to last word is what sums this whole thing up: complicated. At the end of the day, the vast majority of us have no idea what it's like to actually wrestle a match. I'm considered somewhat of an authority on wrestling knowledge, but there's a whole world of wrestling that I'll never know about or truly understand because I'm a fan and not a performer. If some wrestlers, even a handful, say something about working in the ring, I'm going to believe them as I have zero way to prove them wrong. Yeah it may look easy, but it's an area where most of us will never have first hand experience.

Just an observation: I remember long time WWF wrestlers complaining about the stiffness and size of the NWA rings when they had moved on. This could be a case where there's an inherent dislike of anything different than what they've grown accustomed to.

 

[klunderbunker]

Just an observation: I remember long time WWF wrestlers complaining about the stiffness and size of the NWA rings when they had moved on. This could be a case where there's an inherent dislike of anything different than what they've grown accustomed to.

Possibly, and it goes back to what I said earlier: why should the wrestlers have to learn a new style and a new structure that could put them in danger? To give the fans a sense that they get what they want? I didn't see people tuning out because the ring was four sides, nor can I possibly imagine people tuning in because it's six sides again. It seems like a somewhat risky and annoying (to the roster) move that doesn't accomplish much.

 

[Bockwinkel's Class]

Possibly, and it goes back to what I said earlier: why should the wrestlers have to learn a new style and a new structure that could put them in danger? To give the fans a sense that they get what they want? I didn't see people tuning out because the ring was four sides, nor can I possibly imagine people tuning in because it's six sides again. It seems like a somewhat risky and annoying (to the roster) move that doesn't accomplish much.

Whether or not it bumps their ratings and buy rates I'm pretty indifferent to. My observation was more that traditionally there's never been any real ring standardization in wrestling and that wrestlers have always voiced dislike for rings that differed in some way from what they were accustomed to. It is what it is (shrugs shoulders).....

 

[Papa Pillman]

Dixie tweeted this picture of a first look at the ring set up in the Manhattan Center:

Can't wait to see the whole set-up on TV, especially with the place full.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

Dixie tweeted this picture of a first look at the ring set up in the Manhattan Center:

Can't wait to see the whole set-up on TV, especially with the place full.

What the hell? Knux is sitting on it?! Get off, Knux, you'll end your career like that. Gosh .. he's so brave, and so talented. He knows exactly how to sit in a six sided ring's corner. You know, it takes a lot of practice to re-learn how to sit in corners. Obviously it's a tough task since the other guy is just laying there because he can't seem to figure out how to sit in this ring's corner since he's worked in four sided rings his whole life.

Fuckin' six-sides, ending lives and shit ...

 

[Rayne]

What the hell? Knux is sitting on it?! Get off, Knux, you'll end your career like that. Gosh .. he's so brave, and so talented. He knows exactly how to sit in a six sided ring's corner. You know, it takes a lot of practice to re-learn how to sit in corners. Obviously it's a tough task since the other guy is just laying there because he can't seem to figure out how to sit in this ring's corner since he's worked in four sided rings his whole life.

Fuckin' six-sides, ending lives and shit ...

Zeven, why are you rooting for the negligent homicide of professional wrestlers? OMG!

Do you have any other way of offering an opinion besides spouting off radical, exaggerated versions of what other people are saying? It's like you know that the arguments you present (not this thread, in general) are thin and not being taken credibly, but think you can beef them up with emo-flated levels of hyperbole. And it never works.

A six-sided ring is harder. This is only in dispute amongst people who are also disputing physics (which, it's a professional wrestling forum, some people are going to.) A harder ring equals more force while taking a bump. You, yourself, may not care to consider the feelings (or well-being) of performers, and you often seem mystified as to why people offer you the exact same treatment in kind. You seem utterly unaware of that double-edged sword you swing around.

Of course, we all know TNA has always had the well being of their performers at the top of their agenda.

 

[MrHashasheen]

I'm actually curious, is it the ring ropes or the mat that's harder? Because surely they could pad the latter more and loosen the ropes since there's less space between each post now.

 

[Rayne]

I'm actually curious, is it the ring ropes or the mat that's harder? Because surely they could pad the latter more and loosen the ropes since there's less space between each post now.

The mat, the ring ropes aren't part of the supporting structure, and could be either harder or softer depending on how the ring is set up.

As far as padding, no. The force of a bump has to be distributed, at some point, through the ring posts and into the ground. Padding can help in more evenly distributing the weight of a bump outwards along the surface of the ring, increasing the amount of contact between the performer and the ring. (The more contact that the performer has with the ring at once, the less force is exerted back on an individual point of your body. It's the whole point of flat-backing.)

The really important measurement here isn't simply force, but force over time and maximum force. Padding, as well as the flexibility of the ring, works by taking the initial force of the bump and dissipating it over time (we're talking on the order of milliseconds here, but it matters.) You can add more padding, and it will have an effect. To have a meaningful one, the padding would have to compress enough to absorb the weight of a falling performer and distribute that evenly through the padding surface- and on that order, we're talking laying memory-foam mattresses in the ring. Unless there's an amount of padding in the ring that can distribute that force through a large enough period of time (there isn't, without getting silly), the major factor in overall ring hardness is going to be mat area as a function of the angles of the ring (or ring posts for shorthand, until they invent the half-sided ring).

It's a harder ring, full stop.

 

[therock]

6 Sided ring doesn't show as well for television as normal traditional 4 sides ring does.

Personally - I think on television 6 Sided ring looks crap compare to the traditional 4 sides ring.
Only main reason they have gone with a 6 Sided ring to beat global force wrestling.