TNA Star Admits They’re Protective Of Locker Room Amid WWE NXT Invasion
The WWE–TNA partnership, announced in early 2025, has led to several NXT and TNA stars appearing in each other’s promotions.
For instance, WWE and TNA recently ran a storyline where wrestlers from TNA appeared on WWE’s NXT brand, leading to confrontations. Also, the TNA X‑Division Champion Leon Slater challenged Oba Femi for the NXT Championship at NXT New Year’s Evil 2026, representing TNA on WWE TV.
Slater recently had an interview on Unseen with Joey Karni, where he said he is proud to represent TNA in NXT and show WWE’s audience what TNA and the X‑Division are all about.
TNA Star Leon Slater Shares His Thoughts On WWE Stars Appearing In TNA
When asked about WWE wrestlers appearing in TNA, Slater said he welcomes all comers, especially in the X‑Division, but stressed that new talent must respect TNA’s locker room and the culture they’ve built.
He sees TNA as a unique home for all types of wrestlers and wants anyone who comes in to understand that special environment and not mess it up. He said:
“I think the biggest thing for me, and the biggest thing for our locker room in general … I think we do hold this protective energy sometimes over that locker room and over the kind of energy that we have with us right now where we don’t want anyone coming in and messing it up,”
“My biggest thing has always been respecting other people’s locker rooms, right? Like we were saying [about] NXT, what would I look like if I turned up in sweatpants and a baggy hoodie and stuff like that, and left trash in their locker room?”
“So for me, the biggest thing is just having that respect for TNA and for what we’ve been doing because we’re in such a special place right now. And I think I speak for the whole locker room where I say we just don’t want anyone to mess that up.”
“But that being said, of course, we welcome to all comers, whether you’re old, you’re young, you’re middle-aged. And especially in the X Division. The X Division is the hottest division in TNA in my opinion. And I’m always up for new challenges, that’s for sure.”
A couple of weeks ago, WWE analyst Sam Roberts predicted that Leon Slater would join WWE in 2026.
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