UK Wrestling Sensation Leon Slater Shines at John Cena's Final WWE Show While Crafting His Own Legacy in TNA

BRADFORD’S own Leon Slater got into wrestling at THREE YEARS OLD.

Now, just 21, he is making history in TNA as their prestigous X-Division champion, he wrestled on ‘s last ever show in and faced off against just a couple of months before he retired.

Leon Slater is one of the top stars in TNA right nowCredit: WWE

It’s been a meteoric rise for the Brit who seems destined to become one of the biggest names in the industry in the years to come.

He is currently the youngest X-Division champion ever and has the third longest reign of all-time, and he’s maching down Moose’s spot in second on the list.

Some true legends of the sport have held that titlen and Slater is hellbent on making sure he has the defining legacy with it.

During a chat with SunSport, Slater took us back to his origins in professional and how he managed to find his break in America after honing his craft in England.

“I can’t remember a time in my life where the wrestling bug wasn’t in me. I think I must have got into wrestling around three or four, because my cousin used to live next door to us and he had all the action figures and the, and the replica belts, and the DVDs and the video games, so I would always be at his house playing with it.

“So I think when the time came for him – as like a lot of young guys do – when he kind of grew out of wrestling, I was the one to get all his hand me downs, so I got all the action figures and so on and so forth.

“And from then I was just in love. I’ve never wanted to do anything else with my life, so I think I’ve had the bug since day one.

“I always tell people I slid out of the womb and took a back bump straight there. I was born with the bug.”

“As far as making it happen, man, I’ve been, I’ve been super, super lucky and super blessed to have the best support system and the best family and the best mum in the world that she allowed me to spread my wings and try what I wanna try.

“I think her being an entrepreneur herself and having her own business for decades now, I think she can relate to that and wanted me to chase that dream.

“So, as soon as, I won’t even say as soon as I was old enough, because I wasn’t, I was 9 years old when I started training.

“I was nine-years-old when I started training. We were lucky enough to find a training center; it was UKW at the time in Wakefield, which is about an hour or so, maybe 40 minutes from Bradford.

I think it started a week before my 10th birthday. I was there every Saturday, man. When I was 15/16, COVID happened and it kind of put a stop to that.

“But before that I was training every single weekend, I was doing the training shows there every month. When lockdown started to ease up a little bit and the restrictions started to lift off, a school called Pursu Pro Wrestling in Sheffield opened up and that really, really changed my life.

“That made me into the wrestler I am today and the person I am today.”

Slater performed on an English independent show alongside Josh Alexander which would lead to his first opportunity with TNA.

He was invited to peform on one of their shows during a UK tour, but that would turn into Slater performing on all four dates and impressing the powers that be.

“I always try to carry myself with the confidence and self-assurance that I am good enough to be wherever I want to be. I’m convinced I could be WWE champion tomorrow if they gave me the chance to be. I could be the TNA World Champion tomorrow.”

Leon Slater

Many WWE fans got their first taste of the talented TNA star when Slater tag teamed with J’Evon Evans against AJ Styles and Dragon Lee at Saturday Night’s Main Event last December – the show where John Cena retired.

Slater admits he has been lucky to have a few dealing with Styles, a TNA legend himself.

“So the first major interaction I had with him was at Slammiversary where he returned to TNA and came out and sung my praises in the middle of the ring, which I will never forget.

“That’s the moment I’ll always remember. He also pulled me aside for a chat after we came back from the ring, and he spoke to me on everything like match feedback, how to handle yourself in wrestling, how to handle yourself as a man, be a family man, how to operate and how it’s made him successful. He just gave me pure wisdom.

“So, getting to share that moment with him in my home at TNA was incredible.

“And then getting to share another moment with him in his home for the last 10 years, in WWE, and especially on the night that it was – it’s still hard for me to believe I was there.

“I’ll see clips from that night of like John being stood in the ring and putting his armbands and his and his and his sneakers and I was like, bro, I was stood right there! Like, It almost feels like a fever dream, but it was real. That whole day was just magical.

“For the match, I couldn’t have asked to be around better people. AJ, who’s one of my absolute idols. And then Dragon, another super hungry, young guy that’s been smashing it and I used to watch his work when he used to wrestle all over the world.

Matt Hardy (left), Leon Slater and Jeff Hardy (right) Leon Slater during his match with Carmelo Hayes in London

“And then obviously, having Je’Von, one of my best friends as my partner was another dream come true. I remember very distinctly as we walked back from that match, it was a good feeling. I remember trying to take it all in.

“And then I come in gorilla, and it was like a who’s who of of legends was stood there and I was like what is going on, like I can’t believe my life right now.

“ was in the chair there, Bruce Pritchard was sat next to him, Michael Hayes is there. The stood at the back of the room, Shawn Michaels is there. I walk out of Gorilla and ‘s there, RVD’s there; like everyone that I’ve ever watched growing up just seemed to be there, and it truly was a magical day, man. It was wicked.”

WWE fans also saw Slater just one month later during the company’s tour of the UK. The Bradford-born high-flyer answered Carmelo Hayes’ United States Open Challenge and wowed the fans in attendance.

Slater said: “I’ll be honest, that’s probably the most comfortable I ever felt in a WWE ring because I felt like I was with my people, you know what I’m saying, like I remember.

“There was one point where Carmelo was punching me in the face or something, like, I was getting battered, but I remember hearing ‘he’s one of our own, he’s one of our own.’

And then I was like, OK, right, we’re really at home. We’ve got the chants going and everything! Me and Melo hit it off, man, I feel like our chemistry and ring was on a different level and I’m glad we got to deliver that night in .”

Slater has quickly become one of the leading lights for TNA, but industry legends like The Hardy Boyz and former WWE champions like Nick Nemeth are still going strong too.

The Brit has had the chance to work with them all and insists they’ve helped him find his place.

“It’s been a dream come true, man. When I walk into the TNA locker room, I’ve been here for a couple of years now, like you said, I’ve been rubbing shoulders, I’ve been working with these guys, they’re my peers now.

Leon Slater is creating a real buzz in the industry at just 21-years-old AJ Styles has passed on a lot of wisdom to Slater Slater actually got to face Styles in a tag match during John Cena’s retirement event

“So when I walk in the locker room, I see Matt [Hardy], I see Jeff [Hardy], I see Nick [Nemeth], I don’t see Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy and Nick Nemeth.

“Even though I should and there’s these points in time where I do have to pinch myself and I go like, oh my God, like the calibre of people that I’m sharing a locker room with and the calibre of people that I’ve been lucky to work with.”

Triple H is the lead man when it comes to WWE creative these days and he has directly overseen Slater’s flirts with the main roster.

After appearing at the historic Saturday Night’s Main Event, The Game had a few words of wisdom for Slater.

“After the Saturday night’s main event match, I had a really cool little chat with Triple H where he pulled me to a side for a couple of seconds, and spoke to me and Gorilla, and especially on a night like that where there’s so much going on and I am far from the priority, you know what I mean, I thought it was very cool of him to do that when he doesn’t need to.”

“And I’ve had a bunch of experiences like that, man, like I can’t sing enough praises for how I got treated during my couple of months with WWE at the tail end of last year.”

The full interview will be available soon on Sun Sport’s YouTube channels.

Fans in the UK and Ireland can watch Leon Slater every week on TNA+