"Power Slam"

d_henderson1810

Mid-Card Championship Winner
Have any of you read the wrestling magazine, "Power Slam"?

It is a UK-based mag which writes about the wrestling industry. It was one of the first "non-kayfabe" wrestling mags, breaking the mold that was established by kayfabe mags such as "Pro-Wrestling Illustrated".

I often read this magazines, and it has pros and cons.

Pros:- It is extensive in its knowledge of wrestling, past and present, and what happens backstage. I have often read things in it, which then appear on wrestling websites (such as Wrestlezone), which varifies its stories, meaning it has credibility. As someone who tries to learn as much as I can about professional wrestling, there are few better resources to inform you of what happened and why it happened in wrestling. It often tells the truth, and doesn't just play to storylines.

Cons:- The news and facts, it is great at. However, when it comes to opinions, the writers often let themselves down. I sense that there is some anti-Americanism with them, as they seem to keep all their criticism towards WWE and TNA. They never criticise Japan feds, UK feds, ROH or smaller competitions, but only the "big guns".

It has a section every year called the "PS 50". Every year, the top three consist of one Jap, one wrestler from an indy fed, and one wrestler in either WWE or TNA. There is never any variation from this. Also, rarely does a WWE or TNA wrestler get No.1 in the poll. Also, it says that it is based on the best 50 in the industry, but it seems to limit itself to the best 50 "in-ring workers", not the best 50 all-round talents.

It also indulges in personal sledges. The writers hate John Cena, and instead of being professional, they make slight barbs, even when the story isn't about him. They seem to play "favourites", when the story calls for just reporting what happened, not what they think. Their audience seems geared to wrestling critics, rather than lovers of the sport, people who love indys and overseas feds, rather than U.S. mainstream wrestling.

Have you read this mag? What are your thoughts on it?
 
I signed up for an annual subscription to Power Slam about 6 months ago, and look forward to receiving it every month. In the past I would buy it every couple of months, depending on what was being covered but I have really gotten back into wrestling in a big way over the last year or so, and decided to buy a 12-month subscription.

I think its a really good magazine, easily the best wrestling magazine I have read (I occasionally buy "FSM" but that's got a lot of focus on MMA which doesnt really interest me. My main criticism of Power Slam is that it also has a little bit of MMA news, and while I would rather PS stick strictly to wrestling, but there are probably readers who enjoy MMA as well so I can see why they do this.

They do have a lot of interesting articles though, I've enjoyed their "History of the WWE title" series which can over several issues and went through every title change in the history of the WWE title in decent depth, and the interviews with wrestlers are usually pretty in depth too. Also, there is a "History of wrestling on PPV" section where all PPVs are reviewed which is always a good read too.

Overall its a very good publication and I'd definitely recommend it to any wrestling fan in the UK.
 
I use to buy it back during the Monday Night Wars & shortly after, haven't bought it in a while.
 
It has its flaws. i.e. it hasn't changed its format (other than mirnor touches) since it began. I mean when it was called Superstars Of Wrestling twenty years ago. But it's anjoyable read.

It has always been anti-WWE to a point. They were always pro WCW & ECW as people throughout the card could do whatever they liked and weren't stuck working the WWE style. Though they're just being fair in my opinion. WWE, as the biggest and most popular promotion, is going to face more criticism. They praise where praise is deserved. I still look forward to it every month.

A million times better than Fighting Spirit Magazine.
 

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