{"id":148903,"date":"2025-12-18T06:00:49","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T11:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=148903"},"modified":"2025-12-18T04:55:39","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T09:55:39","slug":"will-leon-slater-become-nxt-champion-at-new-years-evil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/12\/18\/will-leon-slater-become-nxt-champion-at-new-years-evil\/","title":{"rendered":"Can TNA Wrestling Star Leon Slater Become NXT Champion at New Year’s Evil?"},"content":{"rendered":"

At NXT Deadline,\u00a0Je\u2019Von\u00a0Evans became the number one contender for Oba Femi\u2019s NXT Championship. The prize for winning the Iron Survivor Challenge was a title match at New Year\u2019s Evil. Evans, however,\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0want to wait that long. The very next Tuesday, he cashed in his\u00a0title match opportunity. <\/span><\/p>\n

He lost the match thanks to Ricky Saints’ interference by pulling on the referee\u2019s leg, negating the pin attempt. It was announced that on December 16, 2025, the episode of NXT, a fatal four-way match would be held to determine Femi\u2019s opponent. <\/span><\/p>\n

After a tense match<\/a>, Leon Slater walked away victorious over Dion Lennox, Joe Hendry, and Myles Borne. Now, Slater, a TNA contracted wrestler, can realistically take the NXT Championship for himself. But given the current relationship between NXT and TNA, will that happen, or will outside interference ruin any chance of victory?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A Slater Victory Gives TNA an Actual Championship\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

For months now, the NXT and TNA partnership has been in full swing. There have been definite highs and very deep lows. One constant complaint is the fact that TNA hasn\u2019t really benefited from the partnership at all. NXT has taken all of the belts, with the latest heist being Stacks winning the TNA International Championship. <\/span><\/p>\n

Jordynne Grace and Joe Hendry have fully signed with NXT. With their AMC debut in four weeks, they need some momentum. Having Slater win the NXT Championship would allow Femi to go to the main roster, while boosting TNA\u2019s share in the partnership. <\/span><\/p>\n

The first NXT title won by a TNA wrestler, being the NXT Championship, would be a great accomplishment. The win would also allow the belt to be defended on TNA programming, so Slater beating Femi would open more doors to new matches and potential new champions.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The NXT Outsiders are a Dangerous Threat to Slater\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The NXT and TNA partnership is right now in a crisis.\u00a0There\u2019s\u00a0no talk of them breaking off the partnership, but things have gone horribly wrong. For the past couple of weeks, NXT outsiders have invaded TNA,\u00a0attacking\u00a0wrestlers\u00a0and disrupting matches. <\/span><\/p>\n

It got so bad that TNA Director of Authority Santino Marella ordered<\/a> a five-on-five steel cage match to have a resolution. That match will take place on the December 18, 2025 episode of TNA iMPACT. <\/span><\/p>\n

With the title match at New Year\u2019s Evil being a WWE champion against a TNA contender, there\u2019s no telling what kind of interference will take place. If the NXT outsiders lose the cage match, it\u2019s clear what their next move will be. Slater had better be super careful, or else there will be a 6 1 attack against him. That will make winning the belt nearly impossible.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Stakes are Definitely High for the Match\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

People following the NXT and TNA partnership will definitely want to tune into this match. A TNA wrestler potentially winning an NXT title weeks before their AMC debut is a huge deal. <\/span><\/p>\n

Adding on the fact that it\u2019s the NXT Championship raises the stakes super high. Also, the fact that Slater is 21 years old would make him the youngest NXT Champion of all time. TNA needs this win, so if they want an NXT title, now would be the time to get it. However, this match comes at a time when NXT and TNA relations are worse than ever.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"TNA
Photo Credit: TNA Wrestling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Both sides are fed up with each other, which is why the cage match is necessary. If TNA wins, there\u2019s no telling what the NXT outsiders will do to Slater. Unless things go perfectly for Slater and the TNA wrestlers, Femi will walk out still the NXT Champion.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n

Header photo \u2013 WWE \u2013 Stay tuned to the\u00a0<\/i><\/em>Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a> for more on the Leon Slater and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n

You can check out WWE programming on\u00a0<\/i><\/em>Netflix<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(Raw),\u00a0<\/i><\/em>USA Network<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(SmackDown),\u00a0<\/i><\/em>The CW<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(NXT),\u00a0<\/i><\/em>Tubi<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(WWE Evolve),\u00a0<\/i><\/em>A&E<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(WWE Superstar Sunday \u2013 Rivals, WWE LFG, and Greatest Moments), and\u00a0<\/i><\/em>Peacock<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(WWE Main Event, as well as archives and premium live event streaming). Follow WWE on social media to relive top moments and matches on\u00a0<\/i><\/em>YouTube<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>, and catch fast-paced action on X (<\/i><\/em>WWE Speed<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>).<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At NXT Deadline,\u00a0Je\u2019Von\u00a0Evans became the number one contender for Oba Femi\u2019s NXT Championship. The prize for winning the Iron Survivor Challenge was a title match at New Year\u2019s Evil. Evans, however,\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0want to wait that long. The very next Tuesday, he cashed in his\u00a0title match opportunity. He lost the match thanks to Ricky Saints’ interference by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5338,"featured_media":148947,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,8959,4,5,3],"tags":[9187],"class_list":["post-148903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-north-america","category-tna-wrestling","category-wwe","category-nxt","category-wwe-universe","tag-leon-slater"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5338"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148903"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":148948,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148903\/revisions\/148948"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}