The 4-sided ring vs 6-sided ring Discussion thread

[It's Damn Real!]

I know there's been a lot of back and forth with both the pro's and con's of a six-sided ring, but you'd have to assume that with Hogan coming into TNA and wanting to essentially "start a new", the removal of the six-sided ring would be least painful under a new régime, no?

A report from ImpactWrestling says Hogan has been telling folks that he wants to rid the company of the six-sided ring, to get to a more traditional approach.

Question is, how would this really affect the TNA roster? Would it even bother them much? TNA did in fact have a four-sided ring back at the Asylum, and it's not as though half it's roster only trained in a traditional four-sided ring, or conversely in an untraditional six-sided ring. Most at this point have more than enough experience in both to allow for a rather seamless transition, IMO.

Do you think Hogan is right to want to change the ring? How do you think this would affect TNA's branding?

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

Although it sounds ridiculous, I think it will affect ratings down the road ... in a positive way. TNA will be viewed as a more legit organization and not a rinky-dink Indy ripoff of WWE, at least in the way the ring is presented. With Hogan coming in as a "partner", this is the absolute best way to get that 6 sided ring ditched once and for all-- through an angle involving Hogan's character.

This is actually a VERY good thing for TNA, and something I wish they did a long time ago. However, on the plus side, with them waiting, it will make it look better for Hogan's character.

 

[RockNWag]

I think one of the very original things about TNA IS the 6 sided ring, and think Hogan should leave it alone. It doesn't make them less "legit" or a WWE wannabe. . .in fact, it makes them quite the opposite. I'd be VERY dissappointed if they took out the 6 sided ring.

 

[UseYourBrain]

The 6-sided ring takes a lot away from the product. No non-wrestling fan sees it and says "Wow, that's exciting" and if they do, they certainly don't care enough to watch a full episode because of it. TNA doesn't need taller ladders, more ring posts, and an entrance ramp that comes out of the ceiling to make it's product better. It needs real, compelling storytelling and content. All that stuff is doing is changing the canvass on which the artists' paint, which does nothing to make the art better or worse. Pro wrestling takes place inside a four-sided ring. There's nothing wrong with that being a part of the game and there's nothing wrong with a little tradition sticking around over time. You can't forcefully break something that's ingrained in the peoples' minds and watching a TNA match is awkward and visually confusing to a casual fan.

If Hogan says to get rid of it, I see no selfish motives behind that request. I see only one of the most accomplished people in the business of all time giving advice.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

I'm actually quite torn on the subject, to be quite honest.

While the traditionalist in me says the four-sided ring is "better", I've actually grown so accustomed to the six-sided ring as a part of the TNA product that I'm not sure if I'd really even notice all that much of a change. Sure the obvious change of it not being there would be there, but what I'm saying is that after a week or two – a month tops – I don't think any or many people would really even remember the six-sided ring, because it's not as though it really separates anyone in the company from anyone else. It's not as though anyone truly excels in a six-sided ring who wouldn't still excel in a four-sided one.

 

[Fallen Angel 21.3]

If this is true then that is fuckin bullshit i mean come on thats what makes TNA different from WWE if they go back to the 4 sided ring then they will be a cheap knockoff of the WWE. I mean come on, you can't hit guys from like any angle with a four sided ring then a six sided ring. Whats gonna happen to some of the original TNA matches if they change the ring. What about SIX SIDES OF STEEL what will it be then a traditional steel cage match. TNA was one of the first company's to use a different style of ring in the United States and damnit i don't care if Hogan changes the titles, the entrances, or the roster but damnit hulk if you change the ring then you have gone to far

 

[AutumnHeartBreak]

The six sided ring is what makes TNA unique and should not be removed. Maybe they could make the ropes a bit springier and the mat like what the WWE uses.

 

[Steamboat Ricky]

If the substantial difference between WWE and TNA and the reason why people really watch TNA is the number of sides it has for its ring, then I think TNA is in some pretty big trouble. Wrestling is about story-telling...not how many sides a ring has.

 

[Dagger Dias]

No, they should not get rid of the 6 sided ring. Hold on, before you disagree with me.... hear me out. The 6 sided ring is something different. Something exclusive to TNA. It makes TNA Impact stand out compared to any of WWE's shows. A few of my friends who do not watch wrestling but have watched it with me before, some of them know TNA Impact as "the one with the 6 sided ring". These are people who could become future fans. Removing one of the biggest things that sets TNA apart from the rest would be a bad idea.

Some of you may still disagree, but I think it would be a really bad idea to get rid of that ring. Let the 6 sided ring stay!

 

[therealicon86]

dude the six-sided ring is the most impressive thing ive ever seen and its really innovative and if hogan change it he better bring something to top that we are trying to move foraward not move back and tna is not a rip off of wwe ....tna is adult oriented not child - midget oriented and thats a good thing and i like how its always a different face as number 1 contender unlike the dubyah dubyah e tna gives us something fresh

 

[Kenny Powers]

I really don't see the need to keep the ring or get rid of it actually. It is just a ring. Whether the ring has six sides, eight sides, or 4 sides, it won't increase or decrease ratings in my opinion. I don't think learning to wrestle in a six sided ring is any harder then the regular wrestling ring. I mean if Sting can do it and other veterans can, I don't see why other people cant.

I don't think Hogan will change it, but if he does some people will complain in the Impact Zone. I don't think it will make a big difference down the road though.

 

[darkserenade]

Sometimes the six sided ring isn't right, wrestlers sometimes whip others into the ropes, and you can tell they don't really know what way to run. This only being the old WWE guys.. The TNA guys know how to work the six sided ring well.. Hogan i think fears the six sides. Once he tries it out i'm sure he will get use to it.. Maybe Six sided ring will be an Impact thing only and the new shows might have the four sided ring?

When I first watched TNA I thought "wtf is this? this is shitty!" but it then grew on me and now seeing the four sided ring in WWE it just looks lame. I now love the six sided ring. I hope they keep it.

 

[WHATWHATWHAT]

I feel they should rid of the ring. its a tweener between traditional rings and the ufc ring, If they were to remove it they should make it so it is used in ppvs for tag matches or grudge matches. it does not carry the same effect as a cage but it would show value to the ring if used for important matches.

 

[D-Man]

This really makes no difference to me, whatsoever. In my personal opinion, and as stated numerous times in this thread, pro-wrestling has nothing to do with a six-sided ring. It's like have a two-headed man at your circus. Sure, it'll turn some heads and draw a few extra people at first. But if you've seen it once then you've seen it a million times, and that's not what the product all about in the first place, after all.

We are all traditional wrestling fans that crave change. Therefore, a six-sided ring is a good, innovative thing to us. But the average television viewer doesn't want to see the wheel get reinvented. They want what they're familiar with... traditional wrestling in a traditional wrestling ring.

If someone is familiar with pro-wrestling (but not necessarily a fan), they're most likely to stop hitting the channel-change button on the remote if they come across a four-sided ring. After all, it's what they're accustomed to seeing, it's the tradition of pro-wrestling, and it's almost what they expect. But if they spot a six-sided ring, they'll think it's some kind of marketing ploy just to draw them in and probably won't take the promotion seriously, so they'll continue to change the channel.

So, in the long run, I agree with Sidious. I believe that changing back to the traditional feel for pro-wrestling is going to draw a larger audience and more money than the (dare I say) "gimmicky" six-sided ring.

 

[TheLegendKiller777]

i think hogan is a *** seriously the guy is a fuckin *** like come on man who cares if hes in tna or not were just gunna see the same leg drop bla bla like he only does two moves and hes overdoing himself he shouldnt of came back in the first place he should retire cuz hes78 years old and i jus read that ppl hes close too dont want him to go to tna cuz its "small|" well whata *** like we already kno that his name will never change like a grocery store is small im sure he was in one of those hes just a normal guy like everyone else and id whoop his old ass theres nothin special about him, oh he made wrestling, yeah back when wrestling was gay ad a leg drop was cool, i was watchin documentaries and the hbk hogan match ted debiase said theres no way hogan shuda won that match, same with orton the next year, he shudnt of beat him either like the guys a baby seriously

 

[Blade]

This can only be a good thing. The 6 sided ring thing is so gimmicky. I mean, how does it add to the product in any way? There's more turnbuckles for wrestlers to jump off of?

I think Hogan has the right attitude. He's trying to help TNA move forward while adding some of his old school knowledge. I'm not saying a standard, 4 sided ring is old school. But he certainly doesn't think that something new yet pointless like the 6 sided ring is going to help TNA in any way. And he'd be right.

They can still do all the stuff they usually do with a 4 sided ring. They can have lockdown with a 4 sided ring. They can have Ultimate X with a 4 sided ring. It's all good. TNA has to realise that the 6 sided ring is not exciting. It's just adding 2 sides. It does nothing. If Hogan gets rid of the 6 sided rings, he'll be spot on.

 

[ABMorales787]

Wrestling is in fact about telling stories. But TNA has already built itself around the use of the six-sided ring. Their matches normal matches have been adapted to the 6-sided format in very unique ways. I think its wrong to go back to a squared ring. It would just seem like everything else. TNA stands out for the X Division, the Knockouts and lastly the 6-sided ring. Even if its not as important as the quality of the product it still makes it stand out.

In my eyes, eliminating the 6-sided ring would be like removing the Cruiserweights from WCW or like removing the Extreme Rules from ECW. It would remove something that made the product unique. We've already seen ECW without the extreme and it wasn't pretty. I know some say the 6-sided ring can be detramental to those that aren't acostumed to it, but I say its what make's it unique. A style that you'll only see in TNA.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Wrestling is in fact about telling stories. But TNA has already built itself around the use of the six-sided ring. Their matches normal matches have been adapted to the 6-sided format in very unique ways. I think its wrong to go back to a squared ring. It would just seem like everything else. TNA stands out for the X Division, the Knockouts and lastly the 6-sided ring. Even if its not as important as the quality of the product it still makes it stand out.

In my eyes, eliminating the 6-sided ring would be like removing the Cruiserweights from WCW or like removing the Extreme Rules from ECW. It would remove something that made the product unique. We've already seen ECW without the extreme and it wasn't pretty. I know some say the 6-sided ring can be detramental to those that aren't acostumed to it, but I say its what make's it unique. A style that you'll only see in TNA.

I think you're analogous correlations are too far off.

I don't think the ring itself is as unique to the show as it's made out to be. Yes, it's unique, but it's not a prerequisite for the rest of the program to function. The X-Division as well as the Knockouts wouldn't lose much of anything (if anything at all) by reverting to a four-sided ring, because the X-Division existed prior to the six-sided ring when TNA used a four-sided ring, and the Knockouts don't require a six-sided ring to perform any in-ring work that they couldn't accomplish in a four-sided ring, IMO.

 

[SilverDeath87]

I understand where both sides are coming form. Yes, the 6 sided ring is a little odd, maybe even a bit over the top, but at the same time, it is ONE of the things that separates TNA form WWE. In my opinion, getting rid of the ring would be a huge negative. Hear me out here. I understand there is alot of potential in this ring for mess ups and half completed moves, I have seen them. But, what happens to matches like Lethal Lockdown or Six Sides of Steel? You take away the 6 sided ring, you have a younger bastard child of the WWe. The Lethal Lockdown becomes Hell in a Cell, 6 Sides of Steel becomes a cage match. And refresh my memory, but haven't we seen those before? In my view of things, getting rid of the 6 sided ring would negatively affect TNA. I mean, you would then have the same matches, for the majority, on the same shows. Sure, King of the Mountain is different, but come on! All you do is hang the belt instead of pull it down. And you have a penalty cage. Big deal! Ultimate X would not be affected, as it only requires 4 corners. But still, the 6 sided ring should remain, at least until some new inventive matches can come into play that would work with the 4 sided ring. Frankly I think this is a stupid idea, and am starting to see flashbacks of WCW before it went belly up.

 

[Midnite Express 2009]

No, I think Hogan is dead wrong for wanting to change the ring, what is this, WCW version 2.0? The 6 sided ring is unique and changing it would cause TNA to lose its uniqueness to a certain degree. If they allow this to happen, then what's next. Wow TNA, great job for getting in bed with Hulk Hogan.

 

[klunderbunker]

I've never gotten the hatred of the 6 sided ring. If TNA is built up as an alternative to the WWE, then why should they do something that's exactly the same? As Paul Heyman said, he wanted something that people could look at and say hey that's different. A lot of wrestling fans have only seen four sided rings. It amuses me that people say they're so sick of the WWE yet tehy want TNA to be more like it. The ring is fine, and if Hogan wants to go somewhere that isn't WWE he should go with it rather than trying to make TNA more like a weaker WWE.

 

[ABMorales787]

I think you're analogous correlations are too far off.

I don't think the ring itself is as unique to the show as it's made out to be. Yes, it's unique, but it's not a prerequisite for the rest of the program to function. The X-Division as well as the Knockouts wouldn't lose much of anything (if anything at all) by reverting to a four-sided ring, because the X-Division existed prior to the six-sided ring when TNA used a four-sided ring, and the Knockouts don't require a six-sided ring to perform any in-ring work that they couldn't accomplish in a four-sided ring, IMO.

I know it doesn't hinder the wrestlers, it does hinder most of their matches (Six Sides Of Steel, Lethal Lockdown, other cage match variants, The Steel Asylum). They can still fix up these structures to suit a 4-sided ring. But what I was trying to say is that it makes it different from the WWE. Having a 4-sided ring could make them a part of the crowd. One of the others. TNA stands out from the indies and WWE because it has a unique product. Fast paced ring action, edgy stories and prominent divisions. I for one think that the six-sided ring is another thing that sets it apart and makes it stand out.

When I first learned of TNA, I became curious about it because of the peculiar ring and eventually I became a fan. I'm not saying without it, TNA will die. But I do think it has become a part of TNA's identity. For me, it would be a shame to see it go.

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

Anyone else find it hard once a topic goes onto a 2nd page as most of the arguments have been covered?
However, I think it depends how you see it; the topic is Hogan changing the ring so that's what I'll try and stick to. To be fair, all Hogan has known is a 4 sided ring, the 6 sided ring I believe (though may be wrong) is a fairly recent thing which I have also seen at some Mexican events. This makes sense due to the history of the luchadore's ring technique. A few years ago when arguably the X Division is what drew people to TNA, the 6 sided ring benefitted them and also benefitted TNA. At the time it was a win win.
Now, with the focus shifting away from the X Division guys to the more traditional 'Heavyweights,' I can see how it would make sense to revert back to the 4 sides once again as I figure it would give them more room to move about and feel comfortable in. If this is the case however, I wouldn't stop watching it but I would be disappointed that they removed it so quickly.
With all the talk of a potential new show on the horizon, I would like to see them use the 6 sided ring for one show and the 4 sided one for another show for a trial period to see how things go.

 

[MaverickAZ]

I always though the six-sided ring was tacky

now granted i really don't watch TNA programming, but IMO the only way that organization even begins to be a real promotion in my eyes is if they start doing some live tv shows, axe the six-sided ring, and begin to slowly tape or air live shows in different arenas

maybe the new Orlando arena could be the location of their top PPV, when that opens

 

[XgringolocoX]

I"m with I'SDR on this one. If it does in fact change, no one will notice or care within a few weeks to a month.
The 6 sided ring won't set TNA apart, talent and story telling will. If you need a gimmick ring to legitimize your product, fold up shop now. IMO.