TNA President Dixie Carter released her big announcement during last night's (Jan. 31, 2013) episode of Impact Wrestling and the video is embedded above.
Here's what she had to say:
"For the past eight years, the most amazing wrestling fans out there today have traveled from all over the world to come see us at Universal Studios in Orlando. Now, it's time for us to take the cameras to you.
"I'm so excited to announce that the television tapings for Impact are going on the road, permanently. And we're going to do that starting March 14 when we go live from Chicago at the Sears Center Arena. And we couldn't have done this without any of you.
"So from all of us at TNA, thank you. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for everything, and for making Impact Wrestling a global success.
"We will see you in your hometown very soon."
There's no way to sell this short. For all the creative problems TNA has had, for all the perceived lack of talent and big name stars, the fact that the company has been able to go live and get out of that black hole in Orlando within the past year, not to mention cutting down pay-per-view events to a bare minimum, is huge news that could do wonders for the promotion going forward.
Will this make them a legitimate competitor to WWE? Probably not, at least not for a long while, but that hardly matters. Impact Wrestling on Spike TV every week will become far easier to enjoy simply because fans at home will see fans at the arena actually acting like they're having a good time.
That can make all the difference.