Posted on 8/25/125 by Phil Johnson
TNA X-Division Champion Leon Slater recently joined
PWMania.com for an exclusive interview amid a major
milestone in his career. At Slammiversary, Slater made
history by becoming the youngest TNA X-Division Champion of
all time.
During the conversation with PWMania.com’s Scott Mitchell,
Slater revealed his dream pitch for a TNA vs. NXT “Invasion”
storyline, addressed AJ Styles’ praise, and a true “passing
of the torch.” Slater even shared things fans don't know
about him. You can read the entire interview by clicking
here.
Watch the full interview here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqYYZV8s4YQ
Here are some highlights:
On AJ Styles:
“In the early days of TNA, he put it on his back. I feel
like if you ask anyone what their TNA Mount Rushmore is, the
first name on there is AJ Styles, without a doubt. To have
Mr. TNA pretty much come out there and sing my praises and
give me the salute and almost have that passing of the torch
moment, even though I don’t think we’re quite there with the
passing of the torch moment. I feel like there’s only one
way to pass a torch in wrestling that hasn’t happened yet
between AJ and me. It’s a huge moment for me, and I’m super
grateful. It means the world that not only Mr. TNA, but the
first X-Division Champion came out to sing my praises at UBS
when I became the youngest X-Division Champion of all time.”
Pitches a WWE NXT–TNA invasion storyline:
“As far as the storyline goes, my ideal storyline would be
almost like an ‘Invasion’ storyline. That’s how I picture
this culminating. There’s been all of this talk on who has
the better wrestlers, better this, better that, but I think
there’s only one way to see who’s the better brand. We take
a team of four or five TNA all-stars and put them against a
team of four or five NXT all-stars, and we see which brand
is better. For me, that would be an incredible storyline. If
that does happen one day, I’d be super eager to be a part of
that TNA squad and represent my company.”
On something fans don’t know about him:
“I guess if there’s one thing that I assume people wouldn’t
guess, it's that I’m a big fan of horror movies. A lot of
people from where I’m from or who look like me are not big
fans of horror movies. But I’m a huge horror movie guy.
Anything A24, most Blumhouse stuff, I’m a big fan of.
Anything retro, like Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, I’m
a big horror movie guy. We’re actually in a really good
scene of horror movies right now. Weapons just came out, I’m
going to see Together at some point, Bring Her Back was a
killer movie. I know magic, too. I know card tricks. I don’t
think people would expect that. I’m still perfecting it, but
I’m working on my magic.”
Slater also revealed advice he’s received from Matt and Jeff
Hardy, becoming the youngest X-Division Champion in history,
more on his moment with AJ Styles, being part of TNA’s red-
hot resurgence, and much more. You can check out the
complete interview at this link.