{"id":163061,"date":"2026-06-16T17:07:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T21:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=163061"},"modified":"2026-06-16T17:45:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T21:45:43","slug":"amazing-red-tna-slammiversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/06\/16\/amazing-red-tna-slammiversary\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazing Red Returns to the iMPACT Zone at TNA Slammiversary on June 28"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tnawrestling.com\/news\/tna-slammiversary-2026\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">TNA Slammiversary 2026<\/a><\/span> has been taking on a fantastic shape. The legendary Amazing Red will make his comeback at the event, live from Boston, MA, on June 28. <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/06\/04\/wwe-nxt-tna-aew-06-28\/\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">We already know that all Championships would be defended<\/a><\/span>, there would be an Ultimate-X match, and a Ladder match. And the man who helped lay the X-Division\u2019s foundation, then spent more than a decade teaching the next wave how to do it, walks back into the company where it started.<\/p>\n<p>Amazing Red will return for the first time since 2011. He commented on social media about the return at TNA Slammiversary, \u201cBefore &#8211; too young, too scared, too shy&#8230; Now &#8211; grown, wise, taking what\u2019s mine! #ExpectTheUnexpected #Ready.\u201d His name was said many times over the last 12 months.<\/p>\n<p>When <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/07\/21\/record-breaking-title-change-at-tna-slammiversary-2025\/\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Leon Slater defeated Moose at TNA Slammiversary 2025<\/a><\/span>, he broke a record Amazing Red had been holding for more than 20 years: the youngest X-Division Champion of all-time. <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/08\/28\/exclusive-interview-leon-slater-because-anything-is-possible-i-want-everything-that-could-possibly-happen\/\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Red<\/a><\/span> was there to see it happen, congratulating Slater. A few weeks before TNA Bound for Glory 2025, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ThisIsTNA\/status\/1973921984531865879\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amazing Red appeared in a video segment<\/a> in which Mike Santana came to seek guidance from a fellow Boricua.<\/p>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Before &#8211; too young, too scared, too shy&#8230;<br \/>Now &#8211; grown, wise, taking what&#39;s mine! \ud83d\udc50\ud83c\udffb<a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/ExpectTheUnexpected?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#ExpectTheUnexpected<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/Ready?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Ready<\/a> \ud83d\ude4f\u2764\ufe0f <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/8mYBofZf6j\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/8mYBofZf6j<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Amazing Red (@AmazingRed_iOD) <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AmazingRed_iOD\/status\/2066554959676498244?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 15, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Who is Amazing Red?<\/h2>\n<p>Red, real name Jonathan Figueroa, was part of TNA from its 2002 inception. His high-flying, fast-paced style was ahead of its time in the USA. During that first TNA run, he held the X-Division Championship and the NWA World Tag Team Championship with Jerry Lynn at the same time. He ran with TNA\u2019s foundational class alongside AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, Frankie Kazarian, Homicide, and Lynn.<\/p>\n<p>He left TNA in 2004, then returned in 2009 for a second stint. He won the X-Division gold twice before he left again in 2011. <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/07\/21\/who-and-what-did-aj-styles-come-back-for-at-tna-slammiversary-2025\/\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">AJ Styles name-dropped Red as part of that founding group during his own TNA return<\/a><\/span> at TNA Slammiversary last year, a reminder of how central Red was to building the division.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Bound For Glory 2009: The Ultimate X Match\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bOqpEbdDjd8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Away from the spotlight, Red founded the House of Glory wrestling school in Ridgewood, Queens, opening its doors in 2010 and co-running it with Brian XL. The pair is still listed as the school\u2019s head trainers, and House of Glory grew into both a training ground and an independent promotion.<\/p>\n<p>House of Glory helped develop Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy, the team that became Private Party, and current TNA World Champion Mike Santana came up through the same New York scene tied to the school. Many current TNA talents have appeared at HoG shows, like Nic Nemeth, KC Navarro, Indi Hartwell, and Mustafa Ali. The Hardys are even the HOG Tag Team Champions.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_163171\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-163171\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/06\/HIUdnxSWoAAJy10.webp\" alt=\"Amazing Red\" width=\"600\" height=\"750\" class=\"wp-image-163171\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/06\/HIUdnxSWoAAJy10.webp 1600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/06\/HIUdnxSWoAAJy10-768x960.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-163171\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amazing Red faced Kevin Knight at the last House of Glory PLE (HOG)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Why come back, and why now?<\/h2>\n<p>No match has been announced yet for Amazing Red. A possibility is the Ultimate-X match competing for the X-Division Championship. The \u201ctaking what\u2019s mine\u201d framing could point at the X-Division, the very thing Red helped define. For longtime viewers, his name is tied to the earliest days of the division that separated TNA from everyone else.<\/p>\n<p>As of writing, we know Cedric Alexander will defend against Leon Slater, Frankie Kazarian, Fabian Aichner, and 2 more wrestlers. Because <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/06\/08\/tna-slammiversary-new\/\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">TNA Wrestling had already taped the iMPACT episodes until Slammiversary<\/a><\/span>, it felt like the two other names were already revealed. And Red was not one of them, but it could change.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I have been advised <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ThisIsTNA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@ThisIsTNA<\/a> management is still working with <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RealTSteelz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@RealTSteelz<\/a> to find a suitable opponent for me at <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/TNASlammiversary?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#TNASlammiversary<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>Who is worthy? <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/h5FI5aKw4P\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/h5FI5aKw4P<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Mustafa Ali (@MustafaAli_X) <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MustafaAli_X\/status\/2066583217273008272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 15, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The \u201ctaking what\u2019s mine\u201d could also take another sense. Amazing Red has never won the TNA World Championship. Mike Santana is already set to face Nic Nemeth, so it seems like that&#8217;s not the match for him. Another possibility is to challenge Mustafa Ali for the TNA International Championship. As of writing, Ali is the only Champion without a challenger.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike AJ Styles, Amazing Red comes back to fight. His name has been stuck to the X-Division his whole career. He has never been given a chance at a singles World Championship, at least in TNA Wrestling. As crazy as it may sound, it&#8217;s true. At 44, Amazing Red has nothing to prove to anyone, except maybe himself. So, if a TNA World or International Championship can make him an even bigger legend than he already is, no one could blame him for it, especially the fans.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Amazing Red RETURNS to TNA at Slammiversary on June 28 in Boston\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cBciheg7p_k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TNA Slammiversary 2026 has been taking on a fantastic shape. The legendary Amazing Red will make his comeback at the event, live from Boston, MA, on June 28. We already know that all Championships would be defended, there would be an Ultimate-X match, and a Ladder match. And the man who helped lay the X-Division\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5457,"featured_media":163148,"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":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8959,2,7,6,2192],"tags":[3556,9187,8695,9418,9740],"class_list":["post-163061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tna-wrestling","category-featured","category-impact","category-north-america","category-wrestling","tag-amazing-red","tag-leon-slater","tag-mike-santana","tag-tna-slammiversary","tag-ultimate-x"],"modified_by":"Steph Franchomme","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163061","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\/5457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163061"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":163178,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163061\/revisions\/163178"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}