Leon Slater is the youngest TNA X-Division Champion of all-time.
Tonight, he competes in what could be the youngest ‘dream match’ ever.
Ahead of his title defense against WWE NXT Superstar Je’Von Evans at the TNA Bound For Glory 2025 pay-per-view this evening at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, Massachusetts, TNA X-Division Champion Leon Slater spoke with What Culture for an in-depth interview.
During the discussion, the TNA Wrestling star spoke about his showdown against Je’Von Evans possibly being the youngest dream match ever, possibly winning tag-team gold with Evans in the future, as well as being legitimately surprised by AJ Styles at the TNA Slammiversary 2025 show earlier this year.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the interview where he touches on these topics with his thoughts.
On his match with Je’Von Evans at TNA Bound For Glory being possibly the youngest ‘dream match’ ever: “It does, and I think that’s very fair for you to expect, and I think that’s what we’re going to deliver on. I think, like you said, me and Je’Von, the show stealers on our respective brands, and I feel like we’ve been on this parallel path where he’s been killing it on NXT, I’ve been killing it on TNA, and now those paths are finally crossing at Bound for Glory. I feel like it might be the youngest dream match ever. Like, I can’t think of another time in professional wrestling where two people, even under 25, you know what I mean? Or never mind under 23, have had this much anticipation, this much hype for a match, you know what I mean? So… it’s a- it’s another chance to make history and break some records, and I think that’s exactly what we’re going to do on Sunday.”
On the possibility of winning tag-team gold with Je’Von Evans: “I mean if you asked me this question a year ago, I would have told you absolutely no way. It’s not possible. But in 2025, man, I truly believe that anything is possible in the world of professional wrestling. So I don’t think it’s a far off take at all to say that me and Je’Von could win the tag belts. So maybe we just win it off the off the hardies you know? I think that would get much a lot of people would love to see. I feel like it would be the founders versus the innovators now, you know I’m saying that I’d be an extremely fun match and again, I’m down for it, man. I’m down for anything.”
On if it’s true he was legitimately surprised by AJ Styles coming out to put him over during a special promo segment at TNA Slammiversary: “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 defends the TNA X-Division Championship against Je’Von Evans in one of the featured matches at tonight’s TNA Bound For Glory 2025 pay-per-view at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, Massachusetts.
Make sure to check back here tonight after the show for complete TNA Bound For Glory results.
(H/T to Fightful.com for transcribing the above quotes.)
