We attended the 7/26 episode of TNA Impact Wrestling at Universal Studios, Florida. Here is our take on the Impact Zone experience.
Alex:
My first impression of the Impact Zone was that it was much
smaller than it looks on TV. I knew it wasn’t
huge, but the production crew does a great job of making the place look bigger
than it really is. The second thing I
noticed was how many non-wrestling fans were in attendance. The family that was sitting behind Violet and
I kept flip-flopping between trying to figure out if Gunner and James Storm
were the same guy and bashing Kurt Angle for being pathetic for doing pro
wrestling after winning gold for the US.
I guess when you give out free tickets to all park goers (and anyone who
wants to wait in line), you’re going to get a mixed bag. There were a large number of actual wrestling
fans, however, and they did a good job of getting chants going and leading on
the non-fans as to who to boo and who to cheer.
During every commercial break, Jeremy Borash would get on
the microphone and remind everyone to be as loud as possible. He teased letting the loudest people
backstage to meet some of the guys, but I don’t know if that ever
happened. It definitely worked, though,
and got the non-fans to get on their feet and cheer, otherwise it would’ve been
a pretty dead crowd.
The most exciting part of the show we attended was the Joey
Ryan incident. I was right up along the
rail with my “87” sign when Joey showed up.
He damn near knocked my glasses off my face when he punched Al Snow over
the railing. It was exciting to be so
close to the action, and then even more exciting to have the action occur right
there in the crowd. If you check the
video, I’m the dork with the black glasses, black zombie t-shirt, and the 87
sign. Yeah, I may have marked out like a
little kid. You can also spot Violet and
I during and after the Zema Ion vs. Kenny King match. We’re the dorks with the Zema Ion sign.
The worst part of the night was the wait to get into the
building. When we picked up our “numbered
place holders” (they don’t do tickets, just place holders so that they don’t
have to guarantee entrance to anyone), they told us to start lining up outside
the studio at 6 pm. At around 7 pm we
were moved from that line to another line, where we stood for another half hour
until we were finally let into the building (hallelujah air
conditioning!). I don’t know what they
could do to make this process run more smoothly, but it was exhausting and
frustrating. Admittedly, it’s a free
show, so I have no room to complain, but having hundreds of people stand in
Florida heat at 6 pm is a little cruel.
Overall, Impact Live was a really fun experience. They did a good job of keeping the crowd excited
during the commercial breaks by teasing backstage passes and announcing the
upcoming matches. In my opinion, the atmosphere
would be much better if they sold tickets, which would cut out a lot of the
non-fans. I don’t know if they’d draw
enough fans to the Impact Zone every week, or if they would even be able to do
that under their contract with Universal Studios, but it would help a lot. There were quite a few chants that were right
place, right time, but never got off the ground because not enough people
understood them or cared about what we were chanting for. That said, I would definitely attend another
Impact Wrestling or PPV at Universal Studios.
Violet:
The first two hours of my experience attending the July 26th episode of Impact were less than pleasant. Universal personnel lined us up in direct sunlight starting at 6 pm. Luckily, there was a bathroom and a (overpriced) refreshments stand nearby to make the hour long wait a little bit more bearable. Around seven, we were herded in a surprisingly orderly fashion in to a covered area outside the Impact Zone. This alleyway we stood in for the next 30-40 minutes was even less comfortable than the direct sunlight we previously waited in. I had to use my Zema Ion sign to fan myself off, and the soda I bought while on the first line went flat and got too warm to drink.
After what seemed like ages, we were eventually let into the Impact Zone (where our tickets were never checked). On the way in, we could see all of the people on the "stand by" line hoping to be let in, and there were a lot of them. Between the long line of "stand by" hopefuls and the grueling wait we had to withstand, I'd like to think that there is a more efficient and kinder way for TNA to handle their guests. They might be stuck with some of the Universal Studio restraints, but I think charging a couple bucks for tickets would prevent them from having to turn people away. Also, it would weed out the people who went to the show just because it was there and free.
Although we would have liked to stand ringside for the whole show, I was pretty tired from the initial wait. Luckily, we snagged front row seats that were right off camera. We were able to jump down and stand ringside for matches that really interested us, and our seats were waiting for us when we headed back. However, our seats were surrounded by non-wrestling fans making wrestling-ignorant comments the entire match. I'm used to people making fun of wrestling being "fake" in my everyday life, but I really wish I didn't have to hear that sort of commentary during a show I was super excited to be at.
The show itself was a ton of fun. The crowd was really into the Storm vs. Styles match, so there were some fun dueling chants going on. (On a side note, the non-wrestling fans behind us immediately took a liking to Storm and cheered for him simply because he drinks beer.) The Joey Ryan commotion was a lot of fun, especially since Alex and I were standing right next to him when he socked Al Snow. Interestingly, the crowd was really behind Sam Shaw, and it was sort of nice to hear them cheer on the new guy.
As soon as the show started, I was over how tiring and infuriating the wait to get in was. If I'm ever in the Orlando area again, I will certainly attend another Impact show. With how small the Impact Zone is, I bet it's a blast to watch a PPV there, and I'd like to do that sometime.
Violet:
The first two hours of my experience attending the July 26th episode of Impact were less than pleasant. Universal personnel lined us up in direct sunlight starting at 6 pm. Luckily, there was a bathroom and a (overpriced) refreshments stand nearby to make the hour long wait a little bit more bearable. Around seven, we were herded in a surprisingly orderly fashion in to a covered area outside the Impact Zone. This alleyway we stood in for the next 30-40 minutes was even less comfortable than the direct sunlight we previously waited in. I had to use my Zema Ion sign to fan myself off, and the soda I bought while on the first line went flat and got too warm to drink.
After what seemed like ages, we were eventually let into the Impact Zone (where our tickets were never checked). On the way in, we could see all of the people on the "stand by" line hoping to be let in, and there were a lot of them. Between the long line of "stand by" hopefuls and the grueling wait we had to withstand, I'd like to think that there is a more efficient and kinder way for TNA to handle their guests. They might be stuck with some of the Universal Studio restraints, but I think charging a couple bucks for tickets would prevent them from having to turn people away. Also, it would weed out the people who went to the show just because it was there and free.
Although we would have liked to stand ringside for the whole show, I was pretty tired from the initial wait. Luckily, we snagged front row seats that were right off camera. We were able to jump down and stand ringside for matches that really interested us, and our seats were waiting for us when we headed back. However, our seats were surrounded by non-wrestling fans making wrestling-ignorant comments the entire match. I'm used to people making fun of wrestling being "fake" in my everyday life, but I really wish I didn't have to hear that sort of commentary during a show I was super excited to be at.
The show itself was a ton of fun. The crowd was really into the Storm vs. Styles match, so there were some fun dueling chants going on. (On a side note, the non-wrestling fans behind us immediately took a liking to Storm and cheered for him simply because he drinks beer.) The Joey Ryan commotion was a lot of fun, especially since Alex and I were standing right next to him when he socked Al Snow. Interestingly, the crowd was really behind Sam Shaw, and it was sort of nice to hear them cheer on the new guy.
As soon as the show started, I was over how tiring and infuriating the wait to get in was. If I'm ever in the Orlando area again, I will certainly attend another Impact show. With how small the Impact Zone is, I bet it's a blast to watch a PPV there, and I'd like to do that sometime.
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@TheAlexArcher | @VioletButtle | #FTLOW
