Power Slap
AyJay Hintz has been one of the breakout stars in the early episodes of the inaugural season of TBS’ Power Slap:Road To The Title.
Hintz earned his way into the Power Slap house when he knocked out Slap Fighting legend Frank “The Tank” Holland during slap-off elimination in episode 2.
@powerslap The Week 2 Monster #Slap of the Week goes to AyJay Hintz! [ B2YB @monsterenergy ]
Power Slap has generated plenty of buzz with the league’s TikTok channel already amassing hundreds of millions of views in the span of a few months and the TBS show picking up over 400k viewers in its second week.
We sat down with Hintz to get his reaction to all of the social media talk about Power Slap, and here’s what he had to say.
(This interview has been edited for length and clarity)
“I’m loving it. We’ve seen, like, a complete 180 on the reactions. It went from everybody hating on it. There’s still people hating on it, but a lot of people changed their minds. Those are my favorite posts to see, like, hey, you know what? It’s just kind of growing on me.”
What do your friends and family think about Power Slap?
“They all love it. Everyone’s super excited. They all love to watch it. They’re all really happy for me, proud of me. It’s really cool.”
How did you get into Power Slap?
“My older brother Roberto sent me a post on Facebook about open tryouts, like, we’ll pay you for your time, and I was like, all right, well, we kicked that idea around for a few days, and I was like, I mean, I ain’t doing nothing else, so I might as well.”
Now that you’ve actually competed, what are your thoughts on the sport and what’s your experience with it so far?
“I think it’s great, you know what I mean? It’s more fun than I thought it would be, that’s for sure. You know what I mean? It’s a lot more intense.”
What does it feel like to get slapped in Power Slap?
“The impact is a lot harder than I thought it would be. For one, I didn’t really put any respect on these slaps, like, when I originally seen it, like, pop up on social media. But then I started, like, looking into it…and then I got out here and took a couple. I was like, oh, okay, well, sh-t.”
How do you mentally prepare to get in there and get slapped?
“Normally I would just chill, like smoke and listen to some music and just get in the right mindset., but being in the house, we didn’t have phones or radio or anything, so it was a lot of just chilling and just waiting to go out there. So I just hang out, hang out, chill, go out there, do the thing when it’s time.”
Do you see the parallels between this season of Power Slap and the first season of The Ultimate Fighter?
“Yeah, I think it’s the exact same thing that’s going to happen. I mean, we’ve been seeing slap fights on YouTube and social media. It’s already got a following, so it’s only a matter of time with a guy like Dana White with the money and resources that he has being pushed into it just further the brand and the sport in general”
There are detractors to Power Slap, people who don’t think it’s a sport and are worried about your health, what’s your message to them?
“They just need to sit down, calm the f-ck down. You know what I mean? Literally, everyone is doing it. Nobody was tricked into doing it, you know what I’m saying? Everyone there, aside from me maybe has a history in combat sports. So it’s not like anybody there has not been hit in the head before. Everybody knows what a concussion is, you know what I mean? We got a team of the best doctors and sports medical staff we could have, so there’s really nothing to worry about, in my opinion.”