Nic Nemeth has spent two and a half years praising Leon Slater. With Bound for Glory approaching, he says that is about to stop. Nemeth defends the TNA World Championship against Slater at Bound for Glory on October 11. Speaking with Adrian Hernandez ahead of the match, Nemeth said he is struggling to find anything negative to say about the 21-year-old from Bradford, England, who turns 22 on September 27.
“I can’t say anything negative about him. And in the next few weeks, I’m going to because I have to, and I’m a bad guy, and that’s pro wrestling,” Nemeth said. “But I’m going on two and a half years of singing his praises. He’s smarter than he should be. His ring IQ shouldn’t be as high as it is right now, and it’s already high. Plus the athleticism and the things that he can do that no one else can.”
Nemeth said Slater’s personality only adds to the problem.
“So it kind of makes me sick. So it’s like, we get it. You’re nice and a good guy. Oh cool. And you’re charismatic and you’re going to be running pro wrestling for the next 20 years. Blah blah blah. Nobody cares here,” Nemeth said.
The match was set at Lockdown on August 23 in Chicago, on a night that went well for both men. Slater opened the show by beating Cedric Alexander in a Last Man Standing steel cage match to regain the X Division Championship, with a stipulation that his previous reign would be erased from the record books if he lost.
That would have handed the record for youngest X Division Champion back to Amazing Red. Nemeth closed the show by winning the TNA World Tag Team Championships with his brother Ryan from The Hardys. Slater then came out, title in hand, and invoked Option C, vacating the X Division Championship in exchange for a world title match at Bound for Glory.
Slater signed with TNA in October 2023 at 19, when then-president Scott D’Amore offered him a long-term contract at a live event in Coventry, and he became the youngest X Division Champion in the company’s history at 20. Option C dates to 2012, when Austin Aries gave up the X Division title to challenge for the world championship and won it. The X Division Championship will be decided in a scramble match on the Bound for Glory card.
Nemeth acknowledged Slater is a legitimate candidate to take the title from him, and said Slater could become the youngest TNA World Champion ever. That is exactly what motivates him.
“That chip on my shoulder just becomes that much bigger because it’s like, hey, it’s his time. He’s a young go-getter. He could be the youngest TNA champ ever,” Nemeth said. “Does he deserve it? Yes. Does he deserve to win this year? And would I buy him as a believable, viable TNA World Champion? Yes. Will I let him beat me? Hell no. Hell no.”
Nemeth said experience is where he has the edge.
“There has to be some aspect of me wanting to outdo everybody and being able to adapt to his style. And because of the years that I have in the background, because of my ring general and ring IQ, I got him beat there,” Nemeth said. “And that’s where the match is going to come down to.”
Nemeth is in his second reign as TNA World Champion. He won the title back from Mike Santana in the main event of Slammiversary on June 28 in Boston, using the championship opportunity he earned as co-winner of the Call Your Shot Gauntlet at last year’s Bound for Glory. His first reign included a successful defense against Joe Hendry at Bound for Glory in 2024. He enters this year’s event holding both the world and tag team titles.
