Impact Zone

The Impact Zone,^[1] also known as the Impact Wrestling Zone ^[1] is the professional wrestling nickname for a sound stage in Universal Studios Florida in Orlando, Florida. Its nickname was derived from Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's (TNA) Impact Wrestling weekly television series, which broadcast live from this venue. Between 2004 and March 7, 2013 TNA taped their broadcasts from Soundstage 21. However, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling officially terminated its lease with Universal Studios at the end of March 2013^[2] and began to tour nationally. TNA returned to Universal Studios on November 21, 2013, but rather than going back to Soundstage 21, it went to Soundstage 19, which is smaller and holds fewer people than Soundstage 21.^[3] TNA announced that starting with their March 13, 2014 Live broadcast, Impact Wrestling will be filmed on sound stage 20,directly behind sound stage 21, the original TNA Impact Zone. Sound stage 19 was a temporary venue for Impact Wrestling tapings.^[4]

History

Soundstage 21 was originally known as the Extreme Arena and was used for the game shows Nickelodeon Guts and Global Guts from 1992-1995. In 1996 World Championship Wrestling began taping their syndicated wrestling shows WCW Pro and WCW Worldwide from Soundstage 21, now dubbed the WCW Arena. (Before then they had been taped at Disney-MGM Studios.) WCW continued to tape the shows and a few episodes of WCW Saturday Night until 1998 when Pro was canceled and Worldwide was taped before WCW Thunder.^[5] In 1999 the Roller Derby show RollerJam was filmed from the building now called the RolllerJam Arena. They left after their show was cancelled in 2001 and another wrestling company called the XWF began taping their shows there.^[6]

In May 2004, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling announced that they would be starting their first nationally airing television show, TNA Impact on Fox SportsNet. They also announced that they would be airing this show from Universal Studios as part of an agreement reached with the theme park. Accordingly, TNA leased Soundstage 21 for the purposes of putting on wrestling events for an indefinite period of time. TNA also moved several of its main offices down to Orlando from their original home in Nashville.

From June 2004 to March 2013, TNA taped its flagship show, Impact Wrestling as well as its secondary show Xplosion from the Impact! Zone. They also aired every monthly pay-per-view in company history from that location until October 2006 when Bound for Glory was broadcast from the Compuware Arena in Detroit. They also hosted a special viewing of The Best Damn Sports Show Period that was entitled the Best Damn Wrestling Event Period.

As part of the agreement with Universal Studios, TNA were not allowed to charge entrance to events held at the Impact Zone. This led TNA to look for alternative venues to host some of their monthly pay-per-view events.

In August 2006 at Hard Justice, a fire sparked in the rafters of the Impact Zone. The fire was the result of pyrotechnics igniting a burlap sandbag. The sound stage was evacuated for approximately 20 minutes while the Orlando Fire Department inspected the resultant damage and the building in general. Afterwards, the audience was allowed back in and the show resumed with only one match cancelled.

On January 31, 2013, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling announced that they would be taping their weekly show, Impact Wrestling from different venues around the United States with the first live show on March 14, 2013 from the Sears Centre Arena in Chicago. The final two episodes of Impact Wrestling filmed at this location were on February 28, 2013 and March 7, 2013.^[7] After this, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling cleared out the venue and ended the Universal Studios contract after these shows.

TNA returned to Universal Studios in Soundstage 19 with its first show back on November 21, 2013. A smaller version of the road set debuted that night along with new lighting structures and new seats in the smaller venue that is 16,500 square feet.^[8] TNA announced that starting with their March 13, 2014 Live broadcast, Impact Wrestling will be filmed on sound stage 20,directly behind sound stage 21, the original TNA Impact Zone. Sound stage 19 was a temporary venue for Impact Wrestling tapings.

Format

The current Impact Wrestling set, first time used during the March tapings in the Soundstage 20

In May 2011, TNA rebranded TNA Impact! to Impact Wrestling.^[9]

References

External links

• Impactwrestling.com - the official website of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
• Internet Wrestling Database - iMPACT! Zone - Results from professional wrestling cards promoted at the iMPACT! Zone from 2004–present

Coordinates: 28°28′29″N 81°28′8″W / 28.47472°N 81.46889°W / 28.47472; -81.46889