I miss the Impact Zone =(

[Sephiroth]

The Impact Zone was fun. I liked the tunnel entrance and the color scheme-even if they were using a regular four sided ring, it have them a feel that was different and unique. The audiences seemed less smarky. And I especially miss Tenay constantly saying "What's so-and-so doing in the Impact Zone?"

[A Platypus Rave]

...less smarky?

I guess that depends on which version of hte IZ you're talking about... the hot crowd that were driven off via TNA's Bullshit and are now the NXT Crowd can be pretty damned smarky...

if you mean the dead crowds that followed them... I guess you'd have a point

[Deleted]

Yeah, that old Impact Zone with the tunnels was a really nice looking set.

In fact, now that it's gone again, I really do miss the era of studio shot wrestling shows. Those WCW weekend shows had such a good feel to them - I didn't care about how low on the card the wrestlers were, it just came across as well produced TV.

[Kevin Hamilton]

I always got a kick outta the obvious plant front row models that would be there. The women that didn't even bother to hide their ennui.

[metylerca]

IMPACT Zone, your thoughts?


"WE ARE STILL MISSED *clap clap clapclapclap* WE ARE STILL MISSED"

[Non Banjoble Tokens]

Dec 16, 2014 14:17:42 GMT -5 Kevin Hamilton said:

I always got a kick outta the obvious plant front row models that would be there. The women that didn't even bother to hide their ennui.

I always liked seeing that pretty redhead that was often there.

[benstudd]

Impact on the road has been so terrible visually. No screens, nothing. TNA has looked like death ever since they left the Impact Zone.

[CATCH_US IS the Conversation]

Jan 1, 2015 20:44:07 GMT -5 benstudd said:

Impact on the road has been so terrible visually. No screens, nothing. TNA has looked like death ever since they left the Impact Zone.

They kind of need to do a small bit of traveling. They aren't making money when they're performing in front of the same people and giving away free tickets to ignorant tourists who think TNA is a branch of WWE and are sitting on their hands waiting for John Cena to show up.

And in TNA's current state, screens are frivolous. Secure venues and pay the talent and crew first. Little frills like screens second.

[________ has left the building]

Jan 2, 2015 2:50:17 GMT -5 CATCH_US IS the Conversation said:

Jan 1, 2015 20:44:07 GMT -5 benstudd said:

Impact on the road has been so terrible visually. No screens, nothing. TNA has looked like death ever since they left the Impact Zone.

They kind of need to do a small bit of traveling. They aren't making money when they're performing in front of the same people and giving away free tickets to ignorant tourists who think TNA is a branch of WWE and are sitting on their hands waiting for John Cena to show up.

And in TNA's current state, screens are frivolous. Secure venues and pay the talent and crew first. Little frills like screens second.

There's a difference between small touring and completely cutting ties with their homebase. TNA could done some tv tapings here and there with the occasional ppv show on the road all while keeping the Impact Zone. But TNA went all in without a backup plan in case their plan failed. There wasn't enough of a demand to take TNA permanently on the road but yet they did it. And here we are with TNA. In order to secure venus, TNA is going to need money. Which with their current structure, they don't have much of. They aren't doing house shows. PPVs is dead. They don't have the SPIKE money like they used to have and Panda Energy put them on a pauper's budget. I hope TNA worked out a deal to have Destination America work out a deal to supply the production crew because they fired the last bunch because of budget cuts. 

[jimmyjames]

There was absolutely no reason whatsoever for them to leave the Impact Zone and go on the road permanently, except to stroke their ego and keep believing they were just behind WWE as the #2 wrestling organization and could emulate them.

[Sephiroth]

Jan 2, 2015 3:24:35 GMT -5 ________ has left the building said:

Jan 2, 2015 2:50:17 GMT -5 CATCH_US IS the Conversation said:

They kind of need to do a small bit of traveling. They aren't making money when they're performing in front of the same people and giving away free tickets to ignorant tourists who think TNA is a branch of WWE and are sitting on their hands waiting for John Cena to show up.

And in TNA's current state, screens are frivolous. Secure venues and pay the talent and crew first. Little frills like screens second.

There's a difference between small touring and completely cutting ties with their homebase. TNA could done some tv tapings here and there with the occasional ppv show on the road all while keeping the Impact Zone. But TNA went all in without a backup plan in case their plan failed. There wasn't enough of a demand to take TNA permanently on the road but yet they did it. And here we are with TNA. In order to secure venus, TNA is going to need money. Which with their current structure, they don't have much of. They aren't doing house shows. PPVs is dead. They don't have the SPIKE money like they used to have and Panda Energy put them on a pauper's budget. I hope TNA worked out a deal to have Destination America work out a deal to supply the production crew because they fired the last bunch because of budget cuts. 

I've said many times that the path TNA was on before Hogan showed up was a good one. The arrangement with Universal for the Impact Zone was actually advantageous to a promotion of their size and resources because having a fixed location and taping in advance saved them a lot on production costs. They did their PPV's and house shows on tour to try to maximize revenue while they focused on building the audience via episodes of Impact. And it was working-the ratings were going up and they had reached a point where they were starting to do an occasional episode of Impact on the road were talking about adding an extra PPV to their yearly schedule. That's slow but steady growth. When Hogan came in they jumped the gun and tried to go on the road full time when they didn't have the kind of resources of a big enough audience to sustain it.

[Sir Woodrow]

Dec 16, 2014 14:00:24 GMT -5 @knapp said:

Yeah, that old Impact Zone with the tunnels was a really nice looking set.

In fact, now that it's gone again, I really do miss the era of studio shot wrestling shows. Those WCW weekend shows had such a good feel to them - I didn't care about how low on the card the wrestlers were, it just came across as well produced TV.

If I ever ran a promotion my main show would be studio based inspired by WCW Saturday Night, also, it would only go an hour. That way, when you do have a PPV or a supercard from a larger venue it would actually feel like it was a big deal

[benstudd]

TNA have been chasing their one tail ever since they left the Impact Zone. They made little money at the Zone but it was free. While on the road not only it cost them the money they didn't have but there was no money for promotion so no chance to have decent attendances. Already it's a questionable operation. You go into these places with disappointing crowds and no sets, making the show look bush leagues. Having to book multiple shows in the same places sometime on the same day cause of lack of money and it gives you an overspent crowd that you burn like crazy with overworked crew that can't possibly do their best work.

The worst is that from a fan standpoint, you actually see all that on TV. TNA has been a shore to watch. Esp. if you add all this with the bad word of mouth the company has gotten by losing so many wrestlers in one year, almost getting dropped from TV and the terrible booking. Looking at TNA ever since they went on the road has felt like someone that is depressed and is having a burnout while sleeping 3 hours a night and having to work ovetime at work. It hasn't been fun. Even when you had the Wolves, the Hardys and Dudleys busting their butts trying to make people happy.

I'm hoping this changes when they go to Destination America but they have to find another Impact Zone fast. I still cannot believe they found a place(and sucker) to show their product on TV considering they were dreadful with more money with Spike. What's going to happen when Impact Wrestling is shown on TV, more badly-light places with shit crowds? Are the Discovery people goint to have an heart attack of how shitty this all look?

[Deleted]

Leaving the Impact Zone in general wasn't the problem, as they needed to do that eventually if they wanted to grow their brand, but it was leaving the Impact Zone without accurately assessing the cost involved that killed them. Every decently run company in the world has people to forecast these things. That's how you plan projects. You weigh the expenses, projected revenue, etc, and see if it makes financial sense for the company to do it. TNA seemed to bypass that entire step and just go on the road anyway, and foolishly cut ties with the Impact Zone at the same time, so even their back-up plan was gone. That's why I don't blame Hogan and Bischoff as much as others here. Dixie has to have some common sense. It's her company.

When they went on the road permanently, many people (me included) said it was the right move from a company standpoint. The only way to market your brand in other states is to actually go there once in a while. However, none of us are privy to TNA's financial situation. I think at the time it was fair to assume Dixie and co. knew the financial implications with going on the road. If anything, we underestimated their stupidity.

If I were running TNA, I would crawl back to Florida and beg them to give them a place to tape for nothing. Or find it a place anywhere else in the States that would give the same treatment. Unless they plan on having a roster full of EC3's, Gunner's, Shaw's, Bram's, etc, just depending on DA's TV money likely won't make up for all their expenses. In this case, they are keeping Angle (who probably isn't cheap), Hardy, etc. It's a recipe for going under.

[Sephiroth]

Jan 3, 2015 13:45:50 GMT -5 @conebone69 said:

Leaving the Impact Zone in general wasn't the problem, as they needed to do that eventually if they wanted to grow their brand, but it was leaving the Impact Zone without accurately assessing the cost involved that killed them. Every decently run company in the world has people to forecast these things. That's how you plan projects. You weigh the expenses, projected revenue, etc, and see if it makes financial sense for the company to do it. TNA seemed to bypass that entire step and just go on the road anyway, and foolishly cut ties with the Impact Zone at the same time, so even their back-up plan was gone. That's why I don't blame Hogan and Bischoff as much as others here. Dixie has to have some common sense. It's her company.

When they went on the road permanently, many people (me included) said it was the right move from a company standpoint. The only way to market your brand in other states is to actually go there once in a while. However, none of us are privy to TNA's financial situation. I think at the time it was fair to assume Dixie and co. knew the financial implications with going on the road. If anything, we underestimated their stupidity.

If I were running TNA, I would crawl back to Florida and beg them to give them a place to tape for nothing. Or find it a place anywhere else in the States that would give the same treatment. Unless they plan on having a roster full of EC3's, Gunner's, Shaw's, Bram's, etc, just depending on DA's TV money likely won't make up for all their expenses. In this case, they are keeping Angle (who probably isn't cheap), Hardy, etc. It's a recipe for going under.

Yes, they needed to leave and go on tour permanently-but they were not ready for it yet. They were only just starting to play around with taping outside the Impact Zone when they decided to try going on the road full time. Anyone could have told you it wasn't a good move at that point in time.

[Deleted]

Jan 3, 2015 13:58:44 GMT -5 Sephiroth said:

Jan 3, 2015 13:45:50 GMT -5 @conebone69 said:

Leaving the Impact Zone in general wasn't the problem, as they needed to do that eventually if they wanted to grow their brand, but it was leaving the Impact Zone without accurately assessing the cost involved that killed them. Every decently run company in the world has people to forecast these things. That's how you plan projects. You weigh the expenses, projected revenue, etc, and see if it makes financial sense for the company to do it. TNA seemed to bypass that entire step and just go on the road anyway, and foolishly cut ties with the Impact Zone at the same time, so even their back-up plan was gone. That's why I don't blame Hogan and Bischoff as much as others here. Dixie has to have some common sense. It's her company.

When they went on the road permanently, many people (me included) said it was the right move from a company standpoint. The only way to market your brand in other states is to actually go there once in a while. However, none of us are privy to TNA's financial situation. I think at the time it was fair to assume Dixie and co. knew the financial implications with going on the road. If anything, we underestimated their stupidity.

If I were running TNA, I would crawl back to Florida and beg them to give them a place to tape for nothing. Or find it a place anywhere else in the States that would give the same treatment. Unless they plan on having a roster full of EC3's, Gunner's, Shaw's, Bram's, etc, just depending on DA's TV money likely won't make up for all their expenses. In this case, they are keeping Angle (who probably isn't cheap), Hardy, etc. It's a recipe for going under.

Yes, they needed to leave and go on tour permanently-but they were not ready for it yet. They were only just starting to play around with taping outside the Impact Zone when they decided to try going on the road full time. Anyone could have told you it wasn't a good move at that point in time.

In hindsight, yes. At the time, to assume a company would be that stupid to not know what they were getting into is kind of difficult to do, so it's almost easier to give them the benefit of the doubt. When the WWF's business dropped in the 90's, they scaled back. They only started doing big venues when money started rolling in again. WCW was taping in Disney and Atlanta until they got a primetime spot on TNT and more money to go on the road full-time (which worked out for a few years). Those were logical decisions being made. TNA needs to fire every person in the company that green lighted going on the road permanently when they were losing shitloads of money within the first month (or whatever it was).