On a recent edition of his “The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy” podcast, WWE/AEW alumnus Matt Hardy shared his thoughts on the six-sided ring used by TNA, how he adapted his style to it, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On TNA’s six-sided ring: “It was okay; it was a lot more challenging than a four-sided ring. I mean, full transparency: I would rather wrestle in a four-sided ring. But I was okay with the six-sided ring, because I liked that it was different and it was part of TNA’s identity. And it really made them stand out, and it made them different. So I think that is a good thing to an extent.”
On it being a challenging ring: “The most challenging thing to me about it was though, you have — each side, now that there are six sides, are each shorter. Each one of the six sides is shorter. So sometimes there’s a guy grabbing you to whip you, and it’s hard to tell if he’s shooting you into the rope to your right or your left. So it would be easier to get crossed up like that, you know, especially if a guy’s just trying to grab you and throw you real quick. As opposed to in a four-sided ring, it is very obvious what side you’re going to immediately. Because on a four-sided ring, the corners are like this, where it’s definitely a 90-degree angle. On the six-sided rings, the sides are like this. So it is a little more challenging to know exactly how your opponent is trying to navigate you to a certain direction.”
On changing his high-flying style because of it: “That didn’t change a lot for me. I didn’t mind that a lot. Like a lot of times, if I would go up to the top, usually it’s like one foot on the rope and then one on the turnbuckle. So that didn’t make a huge difference to me. I’m sure some guys I’m sure who were bigger high fliers, it could have been challenging for them. Because your feet are wider. Just because, you know, at a 90-degree angle, you’re here where your feet are standing. And then on the TNA ring, you’re here, so it’s a little wider. I don’t know, it just depends on their preference. Some people may have preferred the six-sided ring.
“But for me, I just thought it was easier and just much less convoluted to wrestle in a four-sided ring. But I was okay wrestling in the six-sided rings because I got it that that was part of that as a staple of the identity of TNA.”