Ryan Nemeth is headed to Bound for Glory with an opportunity to add the vacant TNA X-Division Championship to his résumé.
On the September 24 edition of TNA Impact, the reigning TNA World Tag Team Champion defeated KJ Orso in a qualifying match to become the sixth and final entrant in the X-Division Championship scramble scheduled for Bound for Glory. Nemeth joins Fabian Aichner, KC Navarro, Rich Swann, and Cedric Alexander, who enters through his rematch clause, in the match to determine TNA’s next X-Division Champion.
The title is vacant following Leon Slater’s decision to invoke Option C at Lockdown in August. Slater had won the X-Division Championship from Alexander for the second time in his career, but relinquished it in exchange for a TNA World Championship match. That decision has set up a major split in the championship picture at Bound for Glory: Slater will challenge Nic Nemeth for the TNA World Championship in the main event, while Ryan Nemeth pursues the title Slater left behind.
Bound for Glory takes place live from Tampa, Florida, on Sunday, October 11 and will air on pay-per-view and TNA+.
For more background on this topic, read Call Your Shot Gauntlet Confirmed for TNA Bound For Glory 2026.
Ryan Nemeth Survives KJ Orso in Qualifier
Nemeth’s route into the six-way match came through a competitive encounter with KJ Orso, who competed unmasked on the broadcast. The match began with Nemeth attempting to establish control physically, shoving Orso into the corner. Orso answered with a scoop slam that earned a one-count and quickly showed that he would not simply be overwhelmed by the more decorated opponent.
Nemeth shifted the contest to the floor, where he connected with a neckbreaker before bringing Orso back inside the ring for another near fall. The challenger continued to press, but Orso found openings and delivered an Orso driver that put Nemeth in serious danger. Nemeth survived the move and was able to regain his footing at the crucial moment.
The finish came after Nemeth sent Orso into the ring post. With Orso vulnerable, Nemeth delivered the Hollywood Ending and secured the deciding pinfall. The victory sends Nemeth into one of the most significant singles championship matches of his current TNA run.
While he arrives at Bound for Glory as a TNA World Tag Team Champion, Nemeth’s qualification puts him in position to chase individual gold as well. The X-Division has long been a championship defined by high-level athleticism, resilience, and an ability to win under unusual conditions. A six-way scramble magnifies all of those demands, particularly because competitors must account for five opponents rather than focusing on a single rival.
The Complete X-Division Championship Field
With Nemeth’s victory, the field for the vacant championship is now complete. Fabian Aichner, KC Navarro, Rich Swann, Cedric Alexander, and Ryan Nemeth will compete for the title at Bound for Glory. Alexander’s place is distinct from the qualifying paths taken by the other participants, as he is in the match through the rematch clause connected to his loss of the championship to Slater.
Alexander therefore enters with a direct claim to restoring the reign that ended when Slater defeated him. That history also gives the scramble an added layer of consequence. Alexander does not need to defeat Slater to regain the championship, because Slater has chosen the World Championship route through Option C. Instead, Alexander will need to outlast and overcome a field featuring opponents with very different motivations and styles.
For Aichner, Navarro, Swann, and Nemeth, the vacant title creates an opening that might not have existed in a conventional one-on-one championship cycle. Scramble matches can turn on a single decisive sequence. A wrestler can control much of the match and still lose the title when another competitor capitalizes on a moment elsewhere in the ring. That format places a premium on awareness as much as execution.
The match also represents a substantial opportunity for Nemeth to establish himself beyond the tag team division. Holding a place among the TNA World Tag Team Champions already makes him a central figure in the promotion’s title landscape. Winning the X-Division Championship would give him a major singles accomplishment and add another championship responsibility to the Nemeth name heading into one of TNA’s biggest annual events.
Leon Slater’s Option C Decision Reshapes Bound for Glory
The scramble exists because Slater made one of the most consequential choices available to an X-Division Champion. At Lockdown in August, Slater exercised Option C, which allows the holder of the X-Division Championship to vacate that title in pursuit of the TNA World Championship.
Slater had only recently regained the X-Division title by defeating Alexander, securing his second reign with the championship. Rather than continue that reign, he elected to use the championship’s signature path toward the top prize in TNA. As a result, he surrendered the belt and immediately changed the direction of two divisions at once.
That choice leaves a vacant X-Division Championship to be claimed in Tampa, while positioning Slater for the Bound for Glory main event against Nic Nemeth. The two title matches are closely connected even though their participants are different. Slater’s pursuit of the World Championship made the scramble possible, and Ryan Nemeth’s qualifier win now means Nic Nemeth’s family will have a direct presence in both championship stories on the same show.
There is no indication that the World Championship match and the X-Division scramble will be formally tied together beyond that shared context. Still, the structure of the event ensures that the outcomes will be viewed alongside one another. Slater can complete the Option C journey by winning TNA’s top championship, while a new X-Division titleholder will emerge from the field created by his vacancy.
A Major Night for the Nemeth Family
Bound for Glory will carry particularly high stakes for Ryan and Nic Nemeth. Nic Nemeth will defend the TNA World Championship against Slater in the main event. Earlier on the card, Ryan Nemeth will have his own chance at championship success in the six-way scramble.
Ryan’s qualifier victory does not guarantee that he will arrive as the favorite in a match containing former champions and accomplished opponents, but it guarantees that he will be part of the decision. That matters in a scramble environment, where momentum can change instantly and a competitor needs to be prepared to seize an opening rather than wait for a carefully built one-on-one conclusion.
His win over Orso demonstrated both the urgency and durability required to get to this point. Orso had Nemeth in trouble after the Orso driver, yet Nemeth survived, redirected the match, and finished emphatically with the Hollywood Ending. That recovery will be relevant at Bound for Glory, where surviving one major move may be just as important as delivering the final one.
Nemeth also enters with the confidence of a champion, though the X-Division Championship scramble presents a separate challenge from defending or pursuing tag team honors. Tag team competition allows partners to divide responsibilities and create strategic openings together. In Tampa, every wrestler in the scramble will be competing solely for himself, and every temporary alliance or shared target can disappear without warning.
What Is at Stake in Tampa
The X-Division Championship has been vacated, but it is far from diminished. The circumstances of the vacancy underline its importance: Slater gave it up only because it provided a route to the TNA World Championship. The wrestler who wins the six-way scramble will not merely fill an empty position. He will take control of a title with a clear place in TNA’s championship hierarchy and a history of creating opportunities for those who hold it.
For Alexander, the match is a chance to reclaim what he lost. For the other contenders, it is an opening to become champion in a match where no opponent can afford to ignore the rest of the field. For Ryan Nemeth, it is an opportunity to convert a hard-fought qualifier victory into a defining singles title moment.
The road to Bound for Glory is now set. Ryan Nemeth’s Hollywood Ending put away KJ Orso and finalized the lineup. On October 11, Aichner, Navarro, Swann, Alexander, and Nemeth will collide for the vacant X-Division Championship, while Slater’s Option C gamble culminates against Nic Nemeth for the TNA World Championship later that night.
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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.