Power Slap

Power Slap is an American slap fighting promotion company owned by Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) chief executive officer Dana White.

Power Slap first gained notoriety by producing a reality television show titled ''Power Slap: Road to the Title'', originally broadcast by the TBS network in the United States and on Rumble internationally. Contestants on the show slapped each other in the face to win the "Power Slap League" tournament. The show's first season consisted of 8 pre-recorded episodes and was followed by the Power Slap 1 live event that aired exclusively on Rumble.

The show was executive produced by Power Slap's owner Dana White. The show was due to premiere on January 11, 2023, but was delayed a week after White was filmed slapping his wife in a Mexican nightclub at a New Year's Eve party.

The show, considered the premier program of the slap fighting combat sport, had significantly lower ratings than its professional wrestling lead-in programming, ''AEW Dynamite'', consistently drawing around 250,000 viewers compared to ''Dynamite''s near million viewers. On March 13, 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery and TBS representatives confirmed to media sources that the network would no longer air '' Power Slap: Road to the Title'' following its first-season finale, which had aired the week prior, partly due to its low ratings. After ''Road to the Title'' cancellation by TBS, White confirmed that Power Slap would continue to hold events and produce content for Rumble. During the Power Slap 5 live event, it was announced that the second season of ''Road to the Title'' was set to air on Rumble. The second season began airing on November 15, 2023.

Rules

Power Slap, which has been licensed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, uses rules similar to those established by other slap fighting leagues. After a coin toss to decide who goes first, the first striker has a time limit of 60 seconds to deliver an open-handed slap to the opponent. Slaps must be below the eye but above the chin, without leading with the palm such that all hand to face contact takes place at the same time. Those being slapped may not flinch, raise their shoulder or tuck in their chins. After being slapped, the slapped competitor then has 60 seconds to recover and get back into position before it's their turn to slap. Fights which don't end in a knock out and go three rounds go to the judges' decision, using a 10-point system with judging based on slap strikers' effectiveness as well as the slap receivers' reaction and recovery time.

Participants are separated by weight and gender.

Criticism and health risks

Upon initial airing, ''Power Slap: Road to the Title'' created controversy concerning the health of the participants and the inherent danger of the event. Neuroscientist, chronic traumatic encephalopathy researcher, and former professional wrestler Christopher Nowinski observed one of the show's participants displaying the fencing response after being struck, indicating serious brain injury. Greek neurologist Nikolas Evangelou called the show a "recipe for disaster" due to how "impact to the head, from an angle, can cause rotational forces on the brain", leading to "hopefully temporary, but sometimes permanent disruption to brain function" and "even more serious complications". Many combat sports athletes also responded negatively to the show. Boxer and WBC champion Ryan Garcia wrote "Power slap is a horrible idea and it needs to be stopped." UFC fighter Sean O'Malley stated that he refused to watch ''Power Slap: Road to the Title'' due to its association with brain injuries.

In response to the criticisms, show producers said, "We spend the money to make sure we have two healthy people in there, proper medical attention during and after the fight. These are the things we need to educate people on, just like we needed to educate people on mixed martial arts." In an interview before the show aired, Dana White said "In Slap, they take three-to-five slaps per event. Fighters in boxing take 300–400 punches per fight. And guess what: you know what my answer to that riticism of slap fightingis? If you don't fucking like it, don't watch it! Nobody's asking you to watch this. Oh, you're disgusted by it? Watch ''The Voice''."

On February 16, 2023, Bill Pascrell, a Congressman from New Jersey, and Don Bacon, a Congressman from Nebraska, announced that they were launching a Congressional inquiry into the ethicality of Power Slap. That same month, one of the world's leading experts on chronic traumatic encephalopathy, Dr. Bennet Omalu called for slap fighting shows to be removed from television. Omalu stated, in response to White's claims that he was making slap fighting as safe as possible, "It is a very dumb port very stupid and unsafe. It is primitive. To me, such a sport is inconsistent with the intelligence of humans. It is possible that a participant could die from this. Somebody could die or suffer catastrophic brain damage and become a vegetable. How can he ana Whitemake that statement? It is like saying you will make a loaded gun safe ..Why is TBS showing such a primitive sport? It should not be on TV."

List of events

Source:

Current champions

Championship history

Super Heavyweight Championship

::''Weight limit: 266+lb''

Heavyweight Championship

::''Weight limit: 265lb''

Light Heavyweight Championship

::''Weight limit: 205lb''

Middleweight Championship

::''Weight limit: 185lb''

Welterweight Championship

::''Weight limit: 170lb''

References

External links

*

Power Slap
on IMDb

{{Turner Sports

Sports organizations of the United States
2020s American television series
2020s American reality television series
American sports television series
TBS (American TV channel) original programming
2023 American television series debuts
Slapping