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Warner Bros. Executive Reveals ‘Social Media’ Reason Behind Allowing Dana White’s Brutal Power Slap League

Published 01/25/2023, 1:57 AM EST

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Dana White took a huge risk when he put forth the idea of Power Slap for execution. The UFC president lost a boatload of fans to the slapping league. However, the UFC boss has stood strong and pushed hard to make the gamble worthy. Without a doubt, the wound was further salted when the video of White and his wife’s physical altercation went viral on social media. After the altercation, the risks became indefinitely higher. Yet White decided to put the differences aside and launch the slapping reality show. During a recent discussion with Chief Content Officer at Warner Bros, Discovery’s US Network Group, Kathleen Finch, it was revealed that the show was indeed an experiment that was designed to see what the fans really want.

Finch revealed that Power Slap would compete with AEW wrestling. However, what the fans would like is up to the fans themselves. Nevertheless, most martial arts fans have voiced their concerns regarding the league.

Warner Bros. reveals the reason behind airing Power Slap

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Recently, ‘Deadline’ had an interview with the chairperson of Warner Bros. One of the topics of the talks involved White’s reality series, ‘Power Slap: Road to the Title’. The show was supposed to premiere on TBS on 11th January 2023. Sadly, due to White’s altercation with his wife, the date was postponed for about a week. Finch was asked if she was concerned about airing the show even after knowing about the scenario.

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Doubtlessly, she replied, “Of course. Yes.” However, she termed the process as an experiment.

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She said, “This is an experiment. The goal is, we are making shows for our fans, that’s who we work for. Fans of wrestling have a lot of overlap with the fans of this and it’s huge on social media so the idea really is, if we can take something that’s huge on social, bring it to a linear audience giving the fans what they want.”

Read More: “I Didn’t Even Tell My Wife” – Dana White Admits Hiding Details on His Deteriorating Health From Wife Anne During His Struggles

Furthermore, Finch surprised the audience when she revealed her knowledge of wrestling before she took the job. Although she seemed like a true fan of wrestling, she denied it all and admitted that she had to learn a lot. However, her observations about the audience were quite on point. She disclosed many families watch wrestling together, which indeed took her by surprise. Fortunately, AEW airs on two networks and it surpasses expectations. “Finding something that speaks to that audience, that would be gold,” she said. 

Dana White: The slaps that did not impress

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The first episode of Power Slap premiered on 18th January 2023. Undoubtedly, the UFC president wished the fans would love the show. Unfortunately, the reality was far from what he wished for. The show fell to the 45th spot on the charts with a rating of 0.10

Many of the fans found the league dangerous for the contestants, as one participant’s swollen face went viral among the netizens. While the world has greatly criticized the league, White has stood with a glass-half-full vision for his venture. 

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Watch This Story: “WTF Is This Madness Dana” – Despite Being Bewildered by Dana White’s Power Slap, Conor McGregor Is ‘In’ With the League

What are your thoughts on Power Slap? Let us know in the comments down below.

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Written by:

Krushna Prasad Pattnaik

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Krushna Pattnaik is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. Coming from a pharmaceutical background with a master's degree in the same and multiple scientific publications, his passion for combat sports and writing brought him to EssentiallySports, where both of his passions met in a beautiful collaboration. He is an instrumentalist and has a profound love for books.
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Edited by:

Rohini Kottu