Leon Slater Wants To Steal The Show At SNME, Lead TNA's New Era On AMC [Exclusive]

"Youngest In Charge" isn't just a nickname for Leon Slater. It's a lifestyle.

The 21-year-old athletic marvel has taken the wrestling world by storm in 2025. Whether it's TNA where he reigns as the youngest X-Division Champion in history, or the British indies where he's asserted himself as the best that European wrestling has to offer, or WWE where he'll make his main roster debut in nothing short of the ultimate dream match, Slater has proven he's more than ready for the opportunities he's dreamt of since childhood.

In the wake of the announcement of TNA's blockbuster new media rights deal and Slater's addition to John Cena's retirement show on WWE Saturday Night's Main Event, the TNA X-Division Champion lent a few minutes of his time to chat with The Takedown On SI about his monumental year.

On TNA and the new media rights deal with AMC/AMC+

"I was most definitely a TNA kid growing up...I remember being sat in my mum's office when she'd finished work, like just typing up wrestling. And I don't know if it was an AJ Styles clip that I caught first. It was either that or me watching Jeff Hardy's entrance when he came out with the cigarette when he was under that heel run in like 2011, 2012. I saw him with the cut hair, the purple lights, the eyeliner, cigarette in the suit, and I'm like, 'What is going on over here?' And ever since then, I fell in love," Slater said about his passion for TNA as young fan growing up watching wrestling. He carries that same passion with him today as a wrestler under the TNA banner.

"So not only to grow up being a TNA kid, but now being one of the leaders into this new era of TNA. I don't like calling myself that [a leader], but I guess I'm the champion, right? But yeah, being one of the main players heading into this new generation of TNA, I hope we can inspire some people the same way that I was when I was younger."

The TNA roster has been hard at work to excite and inspire future generations of professional wrestling lovers. Their greatest accomplishment of the year came last week when a new multi-year agreement with AMC and AMC+ was announced to give Thursday Night Impact a new home on cable television.

MORE: TNA President Carlos Silva Reveals How Long AMC Was In On TNA's Media Rights (Exclusive)

"It was a feeling of validation, for sure, because I feel like 2025 has been, on the surface level, a fantastic year for TNA. And of course, behind the scenes, it's been fantastic as well. But for all the big moments, like Bound For Glory, like Slammiversary, like the AMC announcement that people have been seeing online, there's a whole lot of work that goes behind each and every one of those moments," Slater said when asked about the locker room's reaction to the AMC deal.

"It's been a year of grinding. It's been a year of keeping our head down, and making sure we're killing it every time we go out the curtain. So it's almost like a nice Christmas present for us that the AMC [television deal] has been announced. I think with the roster that we have at the minute, the hunger that we had in 2025 is only going to get times by 10 heading into 2026, knowing the platform that we're going to be on with AMC."

On AJ Styles, Je'von Evans, and SNME

AJ Styles & Dragon Lee vs. Je'Von Evans & Leon Slater | WWE

Before he make a splash on AMC during TNA's network debut in January, Leon Slater has the opportunity of a lifetime ahead of him tomorrow as he teams with WWE's Je'Von Evans to take on the WWE World Tag Team Champions AJ Styles and Dragon Lee at Saturday Night's Main Event.

Earlier this year, Slater shared a powerful moment with AJ Styles at TNA Slammiversary. Styles, once known as Mr. TNA and one of the founding fathers of the X-Division, had glowing praises for Slater following his defeat of Moose to win the X-Division title. Tomorrow night, instead of just a moment, Styles and Slater will finally share a ring.

"I think it's going to be very, very surreal. It's another one of these things that I've always pictured. I've always seen in my head. I've always tried to manifest it, and now it's actually happening. I feel like it might feel a bit dreamlike, but there's going to have to be a point in there somewhere, as hard as it might be, to cut that off. Focus on the objective, stealing the show, having the best match of the night, proving that I belong on the stage that I'm being put on," Leon Slater said.

"I feel like I owe it to [AJ Styles] to put on a good performance and make sure that people can look back on that [Slammiversary] speech and go, 'You know what? AJ Styles was right. That guy is everything he's meant up to be.' And I think Je'von's coming in with the exact same mindset. So the fact that my main roster debut is against the guy that a lot of people would call Mr. TNA, I've always wanted to strive for that position and be the face of the company and be what AJ was in the 2000s to this new era of TNA. So I'm extremely excited. I'm ready for the nerves to set in, and I already know as soon as that music hits, I'm going to be quirking in my boots. I can't lie. But once that bell rings, we're going to steal the show."

slater vs evans bound for glory — TNA Wrestling

As for his partnership with Je'von Evans, Slater has no nerves at all. While they hail from different promotions and opposite sides of the globe, through TNA's ongoing partnership with NXT, the 21-year-olds have quickly learned they have more similarities than differences.

"For a long time, I looked at him [Je'von Evans] as like a measuring stick and someone I always had to try and be better than or someone I always had to compete with, you know what I'm saying? Which I still do because he's killing it. He's always killing it. So it's nice to have that kind of friendly competition trying to make each other better," Slater shared.

"But I think since we've had a couple of these big moments together, we've actually become pretty good friends. Ever since we did the first tag match on NXT, even like the chemistry was just there instantly...and I think after Bound for Glory, sharing that special moment in the middle of all of those people in the middle of a record crowd at TNA, stuff like that just brings you closer together. So now, heading into Saturday Night's Main Event against AJ and Dragon Lee, the biggest opportunity of both our careers, I don't think I'm wrong in saying. It's very cool to know that I've got one of my best friends by my side heading into the biggest opportunity of my life."

What's next for the Youngest In Charge?

YOU ARE YOU ARE
I AM I AM pic.twitter.com/lkfawxhqTU
— LEON SLATER (@LEONSLATER_) July 22, 2025

With the retirements of generation defining stars like John Cena, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and AJ Styles around the corner, Leon Slater is well aware of the changing of the guard happening in professional wrestling.

"I think everyone in my generation right now is in a very, very fortunate position where we are at a time where the guard is changing. There's been a couple of generations in between us where the John Cenas, the AJ Styles, the Tanahashis have still been like in their prime as people have been coming up and there's only so far you can get...With those positions being freed up, whether that's through injury or people retiring or people slowing down even, it's a great opportunity for all of us to slot up and take those spots," Slater told The Takedown On SI.

For myself, I've always tried to carry myself with a confidence that I know it's not an if, but it's a when. I never considered in my life that I wouldn't make it to a TNA, a WWE. It was always a matter of when for me. So I think I'm coming through at a very, very lucky time where it's another case of when, you know what I'm saying? When I become the top star in TNA, when I become the top star in WWE, or whether it's across the pond in some other companies as well. I think it's just a matter of when.
TNA X-Division Champion Leon Slater

"I've been in a personal, very, very fortunate position to work with a lot of these legends, right? On Saturday, I'm getting to work with AJ Styles. I'm going to get the chance to meet John Cena, and I'm going to get a chance to meet everyone who comes to see John Cena's last match. But not only that, I got a chance to work with Tanahashi with RevPro, maybe just over a year ago at this point. So I feel like I've been in a very lucky position with my schedule, with the indies, with TNA, with WWE, where I'm kind of checking all the boxes. And all these experiences, all this knowledge that I'm getting from each one of these legends, I think, is only adding to my case to take that spot. "

MORE: WWE Saturday Night's Main Event Preview: Start Time, Card, How To Watch & Live Stream

As for the lasting impression he hopes to leave with wrestling fans seeing him for the first time at Saturday Night's Main Event, he plans to deliver the full Leon Slater experience as only he can.

"I think I just want to present myself as myself," Slater said. "[The] biggest thing for me has always been to be unique. So my hope for Saturday is that people don't just look at me and go, 'Oh, yeah, we've kind of seen that before.' I'm going to show something to a whole new audience that people have never seen before, whether that's my gear, the way I move, the moves that I do, the way that I'm selling, the way that I'm talking, the way that I'm moving, the way that I look. I just want people to notice the difference."

Saturday Night Main Event airs live tonight, December 13th on Peacock at 8 p.m. ET. TNA debuts on AMC Network on January 15, 2026 at 9 p.m. EST with a live two-hour episode of Thursday Night Impact.

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