This is beyond baffling to me. In an attempt to prevent spoilers from leaking onto the internet before Impact Wrestling is aired, TNA has banned the use of cell phones and other mobile devices in the Impact Zone. Waiting on an important call? Tough. Want to check the score of your favorite team’s game? Forget it. Depend on your phone as your only means of time telling? Oh well. It’s all about keeping the spoilers from getting out, and somehow, TNA has conjured up the preposterous notion that banning cell phones will accomplish that. Earlier this week, a fan was actually kicked out of the Impact tapings for texting! For texting!
This blows my mind on so many levels. Firstly, how can a wrestling company think that forbidding their audience from using cell phones won’t have a negative impact on the quality of the crowd? I’m sure there’s going to be some fans who won’t attend Impact tapings because of the ban, and I’m even more certain that there will those who do attend but begrudge the company for its directive during their stay. Second, and more perplexing, how does a ban of cell phones prevent spoilers? Does TNA believe that fans won’t remember the results of the show they witness once they exit the building? Does it really make a difference if spoilers are sent from a cell phone as the event takes place or in an email a half hour later?
TNA claims to have nothing to do with the ban. They say it’s all Universal Studios’ doing. I call bull. They need to accept that the only way to avoid spoilers leaking out is to broadcast their shows live. That is absolutely the only way around it. They could pay audience members $100 each to not publish spoilers, and you can bet that shortly after the tapings ended, the results would still be on the dirtsheets. It’s just the way it is. I won’t go so far as to say that this is TNA’s dumbest decision, as they’ve made plenty of more questionable calls in their booking over the years, but I will say that it is awfully ridiculous.