With the lights down low, home audiences cant see if the arenas are empty or not, which means that even if TNAs live attendance figures continue to drop under the new regime, well never know it at home. Far from annexing the home viewer from the live fan reaction however, this new, darkened arena look creates a hive of disembodied voices, which actually presents a more united front as the action takes place. With the lights down, TNA shows can present a more theatrical feel to their events, without having to worry about the more opinionated fans squinting like they just smelled a giant fart when something they dont approve of happens. Also, from a psychological vantage point, this enables the crowds to become louder, as they are effectively shouting in the dark, with no way to connect the noise back to them the fan response at the most recent TNA shows has actually been very healthy and it seems likely that this is partly why. Besides, if they dont shout, cheer, or boo the wrestling on display, then its also much easier to dub crowd noise over a darkened audience, something that, before you rush to criticise, even the mighty WWE has a long, sad history of doing.
I am a professional author and lifelong comic books/pro wrestling fan. I also work as a journalist as well as writing comic books (I also draw), screenplays, stage plays, songs and prose fiction.
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Oh yeah - I'm about to become a Dad for the first time, so if my stuff seems more sentimental than usual - blame it on that!
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Latcho Drom,
- CQ
