Tuesday, September 22, 2026

Nic Nemeth Predicts Leon Slater Could Run Wrestling For 20 Years

Leon Slater
Leon Slater | TNA

TNA World Champion and Tag Team Champion, Nic Nemeth, spoke with Adrian Hernandez about various topics, including his opponent for next month’s Bound For Glory pay-per-view, Leon Slater.

Nemeth said, “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. 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. There – he’s another one of those guys that he’s nice and humble too backstage, so it kind of makes me sick. So it’s like ‘Blegh, 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.’”

On his strategy for Slater:

“Here’s what I got to do. I go — 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.’ 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. 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. And that’s where the match is going to come down to. Those last couple of minutes with those things that happened in between the moves. The ring positioning, my brain being ready to play chess at the end to counter everything he’s got. That’s the only difference in the two of us. And him being a nice guy, there’s that half second hesitation when it comes to full-on ending it. This is the final shot, this is the final blow and you have that half hesitation. That’s the difference between the two of us.”

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