Ten Sentences: Six-Sided Mistake

When I saw the news last week that TNA would be returning to the six-sided ring, I simply shook my head.

How very TNA of them to look at their product, struggles, and rampant creative snafus and assume the ring is what might need to change.

Years ago I watched my old roommate, a former TNA wrestler, come home from tapings barely able to rest on a cushioned recliner because of back pain from that monstrosity.

Also, aesthetically, the camera angles are terrible and it's impossible to know where guys are headed when they get shot off the ropes.

The six-sider won the fan vote, but those are TNA fans already watching, not those who sampled the product and bailed at some point in the past.

TNA's larger issue even when producing strong shows (as they did in NY) is they've consistently over-analyzed their product and almost always drawn the wrong conclusion.

I could write for days on the sheer ridiculousness of the Bound for Glory point system and how unbelievably convoluted it is for any kind of mainstream wrestling audience.

What a six-sided ring or a complex tournament or the desperate signings of anyone who once worked in a WWE ring says is very simple: We are second rate.

The talent themselves in most cases are far from second rate, but when the company pushes the hell out of a gimmick ring, you have to question whether TNA believes in its own locker room.

What I can say with zero hesitation is a six-sided ring will do nothing without smart booking, respect for the talent, and ownership that has any clue what they're doing.