Tag: TNA+

Leon Slater says WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event experience was a ‘fever dream’

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Leon Slater is reflecting on his recent major WWE experience.

Slater, the TNA X Division Champion, got a chance to team with Je’Von Evans at Saturday Night’s Main Event back in December, challenging then-champions Dragon Lee and AJ Styles for the World Tag Team titles. He reflected on his experience in a new interview with SunSport, recalling he was just feet away from seeing John Cena’s final moments as an in-ring performer.

“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! It almost feels like a fever dream, but it was real. That whole day was just magical,” he said.

“For the match, I couldn’t have asked to be around better people,” he added. “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. 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.”

He was also amazed by what he saw after his match when he went backstage: a who’s who of WWE legends.

“Triple H was in the chair there, Bruce Pritchard was sat next to him, Michael Hayes is there. The Undertaker stood at the back of the room, Shawn Michaels is there. I walk out of Gorilla and Kurt Angle‘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,” he recounted.

Slater has focused on his TNA commitments since losing to Oba Femi at New Year’s Evil back in January. He will defend his X Division title against Cedric Alexander at Rebellion on April 11.

TNA International title rematch set for next Impact

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

A rematch for the TNA International title is now official for the next Impact episode.

At TNA No Surrender, Trey Miguel defeated Channing ‘Lorenzo’ Stacks to crown himself the new International Champion.

Earlier, on social media, TNA and AMC announced that the two wrestlers will square off against each other once more in the ring with the title on the line. Miguel will now defend his newly won International title against Stacks on the February 19th episode of Impact.

Stacks will also be accompanied to the ring by his real-life fiancée, TNA Knockouts World Champion and NXT wrestler Arianna Grace. Grace recently defeated Lei Ying Lee at No Surrender to win the title.

TNA Impact | February 19th, 2026

  • Elijah vs. Mustafa Ali in a Guitar casket match
  • Tessa Blanchard vs. Jody Threat
  • Trey Miguel vs. Channing ‘Stacks’ Lorenzo for the TNA International championship

WOL: How will 2025 trends affect wrestling in 2026?

Posted on by Jim Valley

It’s the last WOL Saturday of the year with Jim Valley.

Today’s show looks ahead at what could happen in 2026, back at 2025, and some trends that aren’t going to go away simply because the ball dropped in Times Square.

We’ll preview AEW’s Worlds End with a tease of at least one prediction: people will complain that it’s too long – AGAIN.

Carmelo Hayes had a great match as he pinned Ilja Dragunov for the U.S. Title on an otherwise very standard episode of WWE SmackDown.

For better or worse, a lot of this year’s trends could also affect 2026.

We’ll take a look into our crystal ball and see what could lie ahead for wrestling companies all over the world in 2026.

Click Here to Listen (sub needed)

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NXT Championship match confirmed for New Year’s Evil

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Leon Slater is heading to New Year’s Evil.

In the main event of Tuesday’s NXT, the TNA X Division Champion defeated Joe Hendry, Dion Lennox, and Myles Borne in a four-way match to determine Oba Femi’s opponent for January 6. The finish had Hendry and Lennox brawling on the outside as Slater connected with the swanton 450 splash on Borne for the victory. The closing moments of NXT saw Oba Femi arrive to stare down his future challenger.

At NXT Deadline, Je’Von Evans won the Iron Survivor Challenge and initially was set to face Femi at New Year’s Evil. However, on the following NXT he interrupted a Ricky Saints/Femi promo and said he wanted his title match immediately. Femi accepted the challenge and the two wrestled on the show’s main event. Evans had the match won until Saints, upset that Evans had gotten a title match before him, turned against Evans and dragged the referee out of the ring. Evans took out Saints with a dive but the momentum had already shifted, with Femi ultimately emerging as the winner.

With Evans already cashing in, Ava on last week’s show made the New Year’s Evil number one contender’s match for this week’s show featuring the four men who didn’t win the Iron Survivor Challenge at Deadline.

NXT New Year’s Evil (January 6)

  • NXT Championship: Oba Femi defends against Leon Slater
  • NXT Women’s Championship: Jacy Jayne defends against Kendal Grey

Interpromotional tag team match added to WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event

Posted on by Bryan Rose

An interpromotional tag team match is set for Saturday Night’s Main Event.

During Raw, it was announced that World Tag Team Champions AJ Styles & Dragon Lee would take on Je’Von Evans and TNA’s Leon Slater this Saturday in Washington, D.C.. The news comes after earlier on Monday it was announced that Slater was pulled from wXw’s 25th Anniversary show this comming weekend as well as Revolution Pro Wrestling’s Uprising 2025 show.

Evans won the Iron Survivor Challenge this past weekend at NXT Deadline, earning himself a NXT Championship match against Oba Femi at NXT New Year’s Evil on January 6. Slater, the current TNA X Division Champion, successfully defended the title against AJ Francis at Final Resolution and also took part in the Iron Survivor Challenge at Deadline.

Styles & Lee successfully defended the World Tag Team titles on Raw, defeating The War Raiders.

WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event lineup | Saturday, December 13 | Washington, D.C.

  • John Cena vs. Gunther
  • Cody Rhodes vs. Oba Femi
  • Bayley vs. Sol Ruca
  • AJ Styles & Dragon Lee vs. Je’Von Evans & Leon Slater

Two title matches set for next WWE NXT

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Two title matches are set for Tuesday’s NXT.

The TNA Knockouts title will be on the line when Kelani Jordan squares off against Jordynne Grace. The two had a confrontation at Halloween Havoc, trading insults back and forth before Grace said she wanted to challenge for the title next. Jordan responded by saying the title carries way more weight than her. Grace slapped Jordan, who reacted by telling Grace that she’ll regret that.

Kendal Grey will be defending the Evolve Women’s title against Lash Legend. After the two exchanged words on Tuesday, they did so again at Halloween Havoc, this time with Lash issuing a challenge. Grey agreed to a title match for Tuesday.

Former members of the NQCC will meet when Myles Borne takes on Tavion Heights. After both shared their gripes about their recent issues with Josh Briggs with Ava, the NXT GM suggested the two face off on Tuesday.

Here is the update lineup for Tuesday’s NXT:

WWE NXT (October 28)

  • TNA Knockouts title: Kelani Jordan defends against Jordynne Grace
  • WWE Evolve Women’s title: Kendal Grey defends against Lash Legend
  • Men’s Speed Tournament finals: Jasper Troy vs. Axiom
  • Tavion Heights vs. Myles Borne

End of X-Division title match at TNA Bound for Glory draws ire of fans

Posted on by Josh Nason

For 20 minutes, TNA X-Division Champion Leon Slater and young NXT star Je’Von Evans put on a show at TNA Bound for Glory that ended in a draw, bringing out Director of Authority Santino Marella to add another five minutes.

Then, things fell apart when NXT’s Darkstate came out to attack both men, drawing boos from the North American record crowd as well as those online. After Evans hit a Spanish Fly in overtime and went for the cover the lights went out and the heel faction attacked both men, drawing “f**k these guys” chants.

The match was then declared a no contest.

The angle is assumed to be leading to a match with Evans and Slater joining forces against the faction, but that wasn’t what fans wanted to see unfold on Sunday.

With the decision, Slater retains the title he first won at July’s Slammiversary.

TNA Bound for Glory ongoing quick results:

  • The IInspiration defeated The Elegance Brand to retain the Knockouts Tag Team titles
  • Kelani Jordan defeated Indi Hartwell to retain the TNA Knockouts title
  • Tessa Blanchard defeated Gia Miller
  • Nic Nemeth and Frankie Kazarian were co-winners of the Call Your Shot gauntlet
  • The System defeated Order 4 in a Hardcore War match
  • X-Division Champion Leon Slater and Je’Von Evans went to a no contest

TNA wrestlers to compete on next week’s WWE NXT

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Interpromotional matches are set for next week’s NXT.

Although this week’s show featured NXT wrestlers taking on the TNA roster, more interpromotional matches have been set for next week. Matt Cardona was seen in Ava’s office wanting a match against Briggs. It was then that Briggs entered Ava’s office as Cardona hid behind the door. Briggs demanded the match against Cardona for next week and Ava made it official.

At the end of this week’s show, the NXT General Manager congratulated Santino Marella on his success, while the TNA Director of Authority did the same. Ava announced that a battle royal next week would determine NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne’s challenger for Halloween Havoc, and extended an invitation for the TNA Knockouts roster to participate. Santino accepted the offer.

Meanwhile, Dr. Wagner Jr. was being interviewed about his recent confrontations with Ethan Page when Lexis King showed up, accusing him of being Tavion Heights based on a recent angle. Wagner walked away as Heights showed up, asking King why his name was coming out of his mouth. A match between King and Wagner was then made for next week.

WWE NXT (October 14):

  • Josh Briggs vs. Matt Cardona
  • El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Lexis King
  • Battle royal for Hallowen Havoc NXT Women’s title match, TNA Knockouts roster invited

NXT wrestler to challenge for X Division title at TNA Bound for Glory

Posted on by Bryan Rose

A new match for the X Division title is set for Bound for Glory.

After Leon Slater retained the title at Victory Road by defeating Myron Reed, TNA’s Director of Authority Santino Marella came out and congratulated Slater on the win, saying that’s what TNA is all about. He then said he had a major announcement, as he’s been talking to NXT’s General Manager Ava and revealed Slater’s opponent for Bound for Glory: Je’Von Evans, who appeared via video. He said he’s never had a chance to compete in a TNA ring until now and Bound for Glory is about to become real bouncy.

Slater defeated Reed in a hard-fought yet wild match featuring plenty of high risk offense, including a cutter to the floor by Reed and a brutal slumdog millionaire by Reed, also on the outside. Slater eventually got the win with the swanton 450 splash.

The weekend so far has been a busy one for Evans. In addition to his TNA cameo, he made a surprise appearance on Friday’s SmackDown, unsuccessfully challenging for Sami Zayn’s United States title. After the match, he was taken out by his opponent for Saturday’s NXT No Mercy PLE, Josh Briggs.

TNA Bound for Glory, Sunday, October 12 —

  • TNA World Champion Trick Williams defends against Mike Santana
  • TNA Tag Team Champions The Hardys (Matt and Jeff Hardy) defend against Team 3D (Bully Ray and Brother Devon) in a tables match
  • TNA Knockouts World Champion Kelani Jordan defends against Indi Hartwell
  • TNA X Division Champion Leon Slater defends against Je’Von Evans
  • Hardcore War: Mustafa Ali, Agent Zero, Jason Hotch, John Skyler, and Tasha Steelz vs. Eddie Edwards, Moose, Brian Myers, JDC, and Alisha Edwards
  • Call Your Shot gauntlet match

Scott D’Amore confirms Brock Lesnar TNA story

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: WWE

Former TNA head Scott D’Amore has confirmed that Brock Lesnar was interested in signing with the company back in 2007.

This past week, Kurt Angle revealed the news on his podcast, saying Lesnar (then a free agent) called and asked Angle if he could get him into TNA. Angle said Lesnar asked him what he was making and that if Angle could get Lesnar the same deal, he was in. Angle said he then asked TNA management and was told no, speculating it was a budget issue due to the amount of talent they were already paying high salaries to.

In his weekly column for Uncrowned, D’Amore, no longer with TNA, confirmed part of that story as “absolutely true” and that Angle approached him about it.

“Kurt was very excited about this and, obviously, it would have been a huge, maybe trajectory-altering signing for TNA. I passed it on to Dixie Carter, who owned TNA at the time. But, as you already know, it didn’t happen.

“It’s a huge what-if, not just for TNA, but for Lesnar. If he came to TNA on a big contract in 2007, would he have still debuted in MMA that year? Would he have felt the need to go fight in the UFC in 2008 and help usher in a legion of new fans for the UFC? I suppose we’ll never know.”

Lesnar left WWE in 2004 due to burnout and the travel schedule among other reasons. After several matches for NJPW and a memorable run in UFC that saw him become one of their biggest stars and their heavyweight champion, Lesnar returned to WWE in 2012 and has been there in some form or fashion ever since. He competes against John Cena at Saturday’s WWE Wrestlepalooza in his first match back in more than two years.

Two title matches confirmed for WWE NXT No Mercy

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Two title matches are already confirmed for NXT No Mercy.

In the opening match of Heatwave, Lola Vice defeated Kelani Jordan and Jaida Parker in a three-way match to become the new number one contender. Later in the show, it was announced that Vice would get her opportunity at No Mercy, which takes place on September 27 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Vice later met Jacy Jayne backstage after Jayne lost the TNA Knockouts title to Ash by Elegance despite never being pinned. After Sol Ruca and Zaria traded words with the rest of Fatal Influence, a six-woman tag team match was set up for Tuesday’s show.

Ava also announced at Heatwave that the Speed titles would be coming to NXT, and current champion Sol Ruca would be defending her title at No Mercy. When Sol asked who she would be defending against, Ava announced a tournament that would begin on the September 2 edition of WWE.

The tournament will have a representative from Raw or SmackDown, one from NXT, one from TNA, and another from AAA. The winner would then face Ruca at No Mercy.

Here is the updated card for WWE No Mercy:

WWE NXT No Mercy (September 27):

  • NXT Women’s Championship: Jacy Jayne defends against Lola Vice
  • WWE Women’s Speed title: Sol Ruca defends against TBA

TNA+ introduces free tier, special live stream set for Friday

Posted on by Joseph Currier

TNA Wrestling has introduced a new free tier to its TNA+ streaming service.

The tier launched on TNA+ today with viewers now able to sign up for free and watch a limited collection of past TNA events and matches. In addition to that, TNA is celebrating the new tier with a special live stream this Friday night (June 20). The promotion will stream an episode of Impact live from its tapings in Pittsburgh ahead of the episode officially premiering on TV next week.

Friday’s live stream will be available to users on both the free and paid tiers of TNA+.

“To mark the occasion, TNA+ will livestream an episode of iMPACT! for free on Friday, June 20, from the UPMC Events Center on the campus of Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh – the hometown of TNA star Elijah,” TNA wrote. “In addition to high-energy in-ring action, fans can expect a special birthday celebration for Elijah, making the night even more memorable.”

TNA noted that it is also in the process of launching a free linear streaming channel — called TNA 24/7 — that will air past TNA content.

“This is a huge moment for TNA,” said company president Carlos Silva. “The response to our growing momentum has been incredible, and it continues to build every week. With the launch of the free tier on TNA+, we’re opening the door for everyone to watch TNA — whether you’re a longtime fan or brand new to the product. It’s never been easier to jump in and experience what makes TNA so special.”

The free tier will not include TNA+ special live events or weekly Impact episodes past Friday’s stream. Those are available on the monthly tier at $9.99. There is also an annual tier at $159.99 that includes those benefits plus all of TNA’s live pay-per-views.


X-Division title, Monster’s Ball matches set for next TNA Impact

Posted on by Ethan Renner

The June 5 TNA Impact episode will include an X-Division Championship match, plus a Monster’s Ball battle in the Knockouts division.

As revealed during this week’s episode, four matches are on tap for the Thursday, June 5 TNA Impact. X-Division Champion Moose will defend his title against Eric Young on the show, plus Rosemary and Xia Brookside will go one-on-one in a Monster’s Ball hardcore match.

Heather by Elegance and M by Elegance will face Harley Hudson and Myla Grace in a Knockouts tag team bout. In trios action, Nic Nemeth, Ryan Nemeth, and Frankie Kazarian will take on Mike Santana, Matt Hardy, and Leon Slater.

Former TNA Champion Joe Hendry will also return to Impact next week to address his title loss to Trick Williams at NXT Battleground.

Next Thursday’s Impact is the go-home show for next Friday’s Against All Odds TNA Plus special, which announced its first six matches Thursday.

The lineup for next week’s Impact:

TNA Impact, Thursday, June 5 —

  • TNA X-Division Champion Moose defends against Eric Young
  • Monster’s Ball match: Rosemary vs. Xia Brookside
  • Heather by Elegance and M by Elegance vs. Harley Hudson and Myra Grace
  • Nic Nemeth, Ryan Nemeth, and Frankie Kazarian vs. Mike Santana, Matt Hardy, and Leon Slater
  • Joe Hendry returns

Daily Update: New NXT match, TNA, WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest Free YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

  • What people thought of WrestleMania and Stand & Deliver
  • An in-depth look at WrestleMania
  • Crowd reactions
  • Dwayne Johnson and his role in the show and the entire back story
  • How the John Cena story started and evolved
  • Why the Cena retiring the belt story makes no sense historically
  • Johnson tells his version of what went down
  • Matches that at different points were scheduled for the show and how they changed
  • Show audience
  • Joe Hendry story
  • How much WWE spent on Mania week compared to what AEW spent for Double or Nothing week
  • A look at all the matches and angles
  • Detailed look at how the WWE purchase of AAA went down, the partners, different people comment on what it means, AAA’s history as well as its attempt to expand to the U.S., Lucha Underground, does this effect CMLL, the original When Worlds Collide, how AAA was formed and more
  • The death of Hisashi Shinma, the golden age of New Japan Pro Wrestling, how he first got into wrestling, what he’s credited with as a booker, the rise of Inoki, the first UWF, Universal Lucha Libre, WWE Presidency, Backlund vs. Inoki, Inoki vs. Ali and more
  • A look at the life and career of Steve McMichael
  • CMLL and a week of sellouts including a killer Friday main event
  • WWE NXT Stand & Deliver coverage and poll
  • The life and times of Black Terry
  • The most detailed look at the ratings for all the wrestling and MMA shows this past week, demos, competition and segments looked at, as well as streaming numbers for Raw
  • Universal tournament ends this week
  • Biggest women’s show of the year this week
  • What’s new with Tetsuya Naito & Bushi
  • Dark Side of the Ring on Billy Graham
  • A look at the Mania week on the indies side including Bloodsport
  • Notes on future AEW PPV shows
  • Kenny Omega on What is the best schedule for wrestlers?
  • Mark Hunt’s case against UFC and Brock Lesnar thrown out
  • Advanced ticket sales to WWE & AEW shows
  • How streaming platform advertising works vs. television
  • Bayley talks her knee injury
  • WWE ID tournaments

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter Back Issue

Tuesday Update

 WWE

AEW & Other Wrestling

  • AEW has TBS Championship replica belts available for pre-order.
  • NJPW is doing a meet & greet prior to Resurgence next week featuring Tomohiro Ishii, Gabe Kidd, and ELP.
  • Cauliflower Alley Club announced that the Bushwackers will receive their tag team award during this year’s banquet, which takes place August 18-20 at the Plaza Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
  • Criss Angel attended TNA’s Rebellion pay-per-view this past weekend.
  • Ricky Morton shared his thoughts on Leon Slater’s dive that the participants in the Ultimate X match at TNA Rebellion didn’t catch: “I’m disappointed. Leon gave you his trust and body on the line for an amazing moment & all of you DROPPED him. Thank God he walked away. In our business, trust is everything and his trust may never be the same. I will add, don’t agree to stuff if you don’t feel confident and comfortable. Speak up. I assure you, it won’t make you any less of a wrestler. I just genuinely hoped that everyone could take something from what happened, learn from it, and focus on fixing what’s next. We all make mistakes, myself included, and it’s not about blame. We, as performers, have to consider those moves and actions with others.”
  • Sidney Akeem, who participated in the match, responded: “It was most definitely inexcusable. Not gonna point blame because we all should have been better.”
  • Jersey City Wrestling announced that all mothers will get in free in honor of Mother’s Day for their upcoming May 11 debut at The Hoi in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Tom Lawlor will be defending the WXW World Championship against 1 Called Manders on the show.
  • Jonny Candido wrote about the 20th anniversary of Chris Candido’s death on social media: “Today marks 20 years since the passing of Chris Candido. He was an amazing wrestler and an awesome person. Miss you bro.”
  • Below Zero Wrestling is channeling WCW’s Road Wild pay-per-views with the announcement of their Road Rage event in Sturgis, South Dakota on August 8.

Triple H sees ‘bright future’ for TNA star Joe Hendry

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Paul “Triple H” Levesque sees a bright future ahead for TNA star Joe Hendry — one that will include more WrestleMania moments.

The TNA World Champion made his surprise WrestleMania debut by answering Randy Orton’s open challenge on Sunday night. It was originally supposed to be Orton vs. Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 41, but Owens had to be pulled from the show due to a neck injury that requires surgery.

Explaining his thought process at the post-show press conference, Levesque said he chose Hendry as Orton’s opponent to provide a fun moment that was different from the originally intended Orton vs. Owens story. A late replacement was not going to match the intensity WWE had been building for the Orton vs. Owens feud, so they went in a different direction entirely.

“In this case with Randy Orton, the storyline, the angst of where we were with Kevin Owens piledriving Randy Orton — him being out for months, him finally coming back. There was just so much anger and aggression there. You really needed something different to make that,” Levesque said. “And I saw a lot of predictions of who it was going to be and what it was going to be. Just incredibly difficult to try to put somebody in the spot to fill that in. It has to be a completely different scenario, and that’s where Joe Hendry came in. And to me was the perfect opportunity to put him in there.

“It allowed Randy to go from being the ‘voices in his head angry, crazy Randy Orton’ to ‘I’m going to have some fun and I’m going to make this kid and I’m going to still showcase what I do and I’m going to leave him better than he came in.’ It was the right thing, right moment, right time, in the right spot in a show that had a lot of incredible action to still get incredible action, have a ‘holy crap’ moment, and sort of take you on that rollercoaster ride of everything being up here and give me something different, something fun, something entertaining. This was the perfect spot for it.”

The match went three minutes before Orton won with an RKO out of nowhere. He and Hendry then shared a moment of respect after the match before Orton had fun by dropping Hendry with another RKO.

Levesque praised the 36-year-old Hendry as a great talent and entertainer, sharing that he told Hendry before the match that Hendry will be back at WrestleMania again in the future.

“And I will just say: I love Joe Hendry. He’s a great talent, great entertainer, smart, respectful to what we do. Like, he’s got a bright future,” Levesque said. “And I was really, really happy that we could put him in this spot and showcase him for everybody on a bigger platform in the world. I told him, right before he walked out, I said, ‘You will be here again, so enjoy this one because the pressure gets heavy from here. This will be the easiest WrestleMania you ever do, and you will do more.'”

Hendry appeared with his TNA World Championship belt at WrestleMania, but it was not on the line. He has a title defense coming up at this Sunday’s TNA Rebellion pay-per-view, facing off against Frankie Kazarian and NXT wrestler Ethan Page in a three-way match.

Over the past year, Hendry’s “I Believe in Joe Hendry” theme music has gone viral on social media, helping to grow his popularity with wrestling fans. He had an NXT run in 2024 and worked his first WWE main roster match this February as a surprise Royal Rumble entrant. These appearances have been able to happen due to WWE and TNA Wrestling’s partnership.