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The Impact Wrestling Zone (also once called the "Extreme Zone" at TNA's 2010 Hardcore Justice Pay-Per-View) is the professional wrestling nickname for Soundstages 19, 20, & 21, a set of sound stages in Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. Its nickname is derived from the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA)/Impact Wrestling weekly television series named Impact Wrestling which was taped at this venue.

History[]

In May 2004, TNA announced that they would be starting their first nationally airing television show, Impact Wrestling on Fox Sports Net. 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.

Beginning June 2004, TNA has taped its flagship show, Impact! 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 is 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 soundstage was evacuated for approximately 20 minutes while the Orlando Fire Department inspected the resultant damage and the building in general. Afterward, the audience was allowed back in and the show resumed with only one match cancelled.

On October 23, 2008, Impact! began broadcasting in HD on Spike. The previous stage and two entrance ramps were removed. The new HD setup included new lighting and several very large high-resolution screens. The wrestlers all enter from the same stage, which enabled TNA to add around 400 seats to the Impact! Zone, which increased capacity to around 1,200 to 1,300 fans per night. The new stage retained the two tunnels, both leading up to it for the faces (left side) and heels (right side), but just one ramp going down to the ring.

On January 31, 2013, TNA 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. After this, TNA cleared out the venue and ended the Universal Studios contract after these shows.

On June 21, 2018 Impact taped its last events at the Impact Zone and have since held TV tapings and pay per views in various cities across the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Shows aired from the Old Impact Wrestling Zone (Soundstage 21)[]

Shows aired from the New Impact Wrestling Zone (Soundstage 19)[]

External links[]

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