Booker T: TNA Moving From The Six-Sided Ring Was A Bullet In The Head Of Being Something New
Booker T was not a fan of TNA moving away from the six-sided ring.
Longtime TNA/IMPACT fans certainly remember the company having a six-sided ring when TNA Impact premiered in June 2004. It was done to give the promotion a unique presentation compared to what most wrestling fans were used to, and while there were flaws with it, it certainly stood out.
The six-sided ring was done away with in January 2010 upon the arrival of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff.
Speaking on his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T recalled the change and why it was such a mistake.
“I had left the week before Hogan came in. Honestly, what I thought, when they changed to the four-sided ring and I heard it was being debated, I didn’t agree with it. I believed in the identity that TNA had built that was different, different than any other wrestling company ever produced. Having the six-sided ring was different. Did I like the six-sided ring? Not really. It wasn’t my cup of tea. (It was) hard and a lot of guys used it better to do their tricks off of. I knew I wasn’t going to be taking many bumps and I knew I wasn’t going to be jumping off the top rope. I was good with the situation. I’m thinking about the future, not the past, and the identity this company had built and when they went away from the six-sided ring because of Hogan coming in, me personally, Hogan should’ve been thinking about the same thing. [He’s] not going to take any bumps or do anything off the top rope, so it shouldn’t matter if these young kids want to go around and do all this stuff. We need them to do that. Moving away from the six-sided ring was the bullet in the head that put TNA out of the question as being something different and new,” he said.
The six-sided ring returned in June 2014, but was gone again in January 2018. TNA/IMPACT still uses the traditional four-sided ring.
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