Leon Slater looks back on his moment with AJ Styles.
At TNA Slammiversary 2025, Leon Slater defeated Moose to win the X-Division Championship. Then, after the match, those in the building came unglued when ‘The Phenomenal’ AJ Styles emerged to congratulate the young star, making his first appearance for TNA in 11 years. Now, Leon Slater has reflected on the endorsement he received from Styles back in July.
Speaking to WhatCulture, Slater reiterated he had no idea the former WWE Champion would come out. Also, he revealed he’s still yet to watch his interaction with AJ Styles back, instead wanting to focus on his memory of the moment.
“1,000% true. I had absolutely zero clue. Obviously, AJ was announced, and I saw him backstage, so he signed and said hello. But even on the run sheet that we have backstage, there was no AJ Styles appearance scheduled, you know what I mean? So when I was in the ring, I’d shaken Carlos’ hand, I’d had the belt from Moose, I’d given my family a hug because they were in the crowd, which is, again, another super cool moment. I was just taking it all in. I remember like looking around at the people and then all of a sudden I hear the drums like, Get Ready To Fly, and I lost my mind, bro. You could see it, right? I was jumping around. I was sprinting. After like a 20 minute match, I was exhausted, but the adrenaline pumped all the way back up, you know? So again, I’ve said it a couple of times before, but for him to share that moment with me and that moment being his first moment in the company that he helped build in like 10 years plus, you know what I mean, was so, so special, and I still haven’t watched it back because I feel like moments like that, I want to preserve the first-person memory. I feel like as soon as I watch the footage on these things, whether it’s a match or a promo, that memory gets turned to a third-person memory, you know what I mean? So everything about that night at Slammiversary, I can still remember living in full colour in first-person perspective, which I think is a super cool memory to hold, you know?”
-Leon Slater
In recent weeks, Slater has featured for TNA as part of their storyline with NXT. At tonight’s Bound For Glory pay-per-view, the Brit will defend his X-Division Championship against WWE’s ‘Young OG’ Je’Von Evans.
Previewing tonight’s match, Slater recently discussed how his match with Evans could be like wrestling a mirror of himself. You can read more about that here.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on Leon Slater as soon as we hear more.
H/T to Fightful for the transcription.
