Leon Slater Says NXT Appearances Changed His Career

TNA Wrestling and WWE have an ongoing cross-promotional partnership that allowed several TNA stars including Leon Slater to appear on NXT. Slater made multiple appearances on the developmental brand throughout 2026. Slater said "That really changed the game for me" and called the experience life-changing.

He learned from figures including Matt Bloom, Terry Taylor and Shawn Michaels while on NXT. Slater explained that beyond in-ring skills he gained knowledge on how to conduct himself professionally by observing how people dress, speak to others and carry themselves at higher levels of the industry.

His NXT in-ring debut occurred on the September 30 2025 episode where he teamed with Je'Von Evans to face Shawn Spears and Niko Vance of The Culling. Subsequent appearances saw Slater compete for the NXT Tag Team Championship and the NXT Championship.

In his final noted NXT outing at New Year's Evil in January 2026, Slater challenged then-champion Oba Femi in a title match that Femi won. Femi retained the NXT title before leaving it behind to move to the main roster.

Although he did not win on NXT, Slater returned to TNA holding the X-Division Championship. Ten months after that latest NXT appearance, Slater now holds TNA's top prize as the TNA World Champion.