Leon Slater believes the turning point of his TNA career came not simply when he won the X Division Championship, but when he made the decision to surrender that opportunity for a shot at the TNA World Championship.
At TNA Lockdown, Slater defeated Cedric Alexander in a Last Man Standing Steel Cage match to capture the TNA X Division Title. The championship victory was a major milestone in itself, particularly given the grueling stipulation and the opponent across the ring. However, Slater made an even bigger statement later that night when he announced he would exercise Option C and pursue Nic Nemeth’s TNA World Title.
Reflecting on the sequence of events, Slater described the Option C promo as the moment where he felt his presentation changed from that of a rising young talent to a central figure in the promotion. In his view, it was a rare, clearly identifiable moment in wrestling where a performer can point to a single promo or decision and recognize that their career had entered a different phase.
“Yeah, absolutely. I think it’s rare that we get these pinpoint moments in wrestling,” Slater said. “I’m not comparing here but just to use an analogy, the Austin 3:16 promo for example. You can point to that moment and you go, ‘Yeah, that’s when he became who he is.’”
For more background on this topic, read Indi Hartwell Embraces Australian Trailblazer Role After Winning TNA Knockouts World Championship.
Slater was careful to frame the comparison as an example of how defining promos can shape a wrestler’s identity rather than a direct comparison to Steve Austin’s historic rise. The larger point was that certain moments can shift both a performer’s self-perception and the audience’s perception. For Slater, Lockdown provided exactly that kind of inflection point.
“I feel like, for me, in my TNA run, the moment of me cashing in Option C was like, ‘Leon’s not the kid anymore. He is the guy now,’” Slater said.
That distinction is important in the context of Slater’s TNA ascent. Winning the X Division Championship traditionally establishes a wrestler as one of the promotion’s elite athletes, but Option C has long represented a chance to take the next step. The concept allows the X Division Champion to relinquish the title in exchange for a TNA World Championship opportunity, placing immediate pressure on the wrestler who chooses to invoke it. It is a declaration of ambition, but it also means walking away from a championship that carries considerable history and prestige.
Slater said his subsequent success at Bound for Glory reinforced the belief that the Lockdown promo had represented a true arrival moment rather than only an ambitious statement. He expects fans may eventually look back at both the declaration and the Chicago cash-in as the start of a new chapter.
“Obviously being able to follow through on that at Bound for Glory just solidified that even further,” Slater said. “I think people are going to look back on that Option C promo and that cash in in Chicago and use that as a moment to where I entered the next chapter of my career, which is where I am now.”
Why the X Division Title Reign Still Matters to Slater
Although exercising Option C meant moving beyond the X Division Championship, Slater made it clear that he did not view the move as a rejection of the division or a suggestion that he had outgrown its importance. Instead, he saw it as the natural next move after a reign that, by his assessment, had already given him the opportunity to accomplish more than he initially imagined.
Slater said he knew almost immediately that he wanted to chase the TNA World Title once Carlos Silva handed him the X Division Championship at Lockdown. That immediate instinct did not stem from dissatisfaction with the title. Rather, it came from confidence that he had reached a point where challenging for the company’s top prize was the right test.
“It’s not even a thing of like me thinking the X Division is below me now because I don’t think the X Division will ever be below anyone,” Slater said. “It is one of the most legendary divisions in all of professional wrestling and it influenced and changed the game more than I can even put into words.”
The X Division has been synonymous with TNA’s identity across multiple eras. While it has often been associated with fast-paced, innovative and high-risk in-ring action, the championship has also served as a proving ground for wrestlers seeking to demonstrate that they can be more than specialists. For Slater, that platform was not a stopping point. It was the environment in which he built the resume and confidence needed to seek the World Championship.
He pointed to the broad range of exposure and matches associated with his initial X Division run. Among the experiences he highlighted were carrying the title on NXT television for three or four months, appearing with the championship on SmackDown against Carmelo Hayes, and taking it into John Cena’s final match. Those appearances gave the belt visibility beyond TNA programming while also placing Slater in notable settings alongside major names.
Slater also emphasized that the reign was defined by more than crossover appearances. He cited the work he did within TNA, including matches involving Je’Von Evans, Myron Reed, Cedric Alexander and Rich Swann. The list reflects the variety of opponents and styles Slater encountered while champion, from established veterans to fellow high-flying and technically gifted competitors.
“I felt like I had such a beautiful run as X Division champion that I just couldn’t see a world where me being as close to—I feel like I’m a very similar person now to when I was holding the X Division,” Slater said.
A Move Up Rather Than a Move Away
Slater’s explanation centers on evolution. He did not say there was nothing left to do with the X Division Championship. Instead, he questioned whether the version of Leon Slater who held the title at that point could realistically take it to a new level beyond what he had already done. That self-assessment ultimately pushed him toward the World Title picture.
For wrestlers in a position like Slater’s, the decision to use Option C can define the rest of a career. It requires relinquishing a valued championship without any guarantee that the World Title challenge will succeed. The wrestler is effectively wagering that their established achievements are enough to justify a leap into a division populated by the company’s most accomplished and heavily featured names.
Slater acknowledged that the decision was rooted in a desire to see whether his own belief in his readiness was accurate.
“So I feel like it was time to move on from that and move up to the World Heavyweight Title division and see if I could hang there and see if what I thought in my head was true,” Slater said. “It turns out it is.”
That confidence is now central to the way Slater views Lockdown. The Last Man Standing Steel Cage win over Alexander supplied the championship accomplishment. The Option C declaration that followed supplied the mission statement. Together, the two moments transformed one successful night into a pivotal landmark in his TNA run.
Slater’s framing of the decision also underlines the value of the X Division Championship as a launchpad. He credited the title and the division with helping provide opportunities that extended from significant TNA bouts to appearances on major wrestling platforms. Yet he also recognized that continuing his growth meant accepting a greater challenge and putting himself in contention with the TNA World Champion, Nic Nemeth.
Whether fans identify the Lockdown promo as Slater’s definitive breakout moment may ultimately depend on what comes next. But Slater himself has no doubt about its significance. In his mind, the announcement was the point where he stopped being viewed primarily as a young prospect with enormous potential and began to see himself as a wrestler capable of leading the company’s main-event scene.
With the TNA World Title now part of his story, Slater sees the Option C decision not as an impulsive pivot away from the X Division, but as the logical culmination of everything he achieved there. Lockdown gave him the title, the platform and the confidence to make that call. His declaration made clear that Leon Slater intended to pursue more than recognition as one of TNA’s standout athletes. He intended to become one of its defining names.
Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.