Leon Slater reacts to Jeff Hardy calling him the ‘future of wrestling’
They’ve worked together closely in TNA, but it’s still surreal for Leon Slater when he receives praise from Jeff Hardy.
Hardy recently praised the 21-year-old Slater as the “future of pro wrestling” and named him as someone who will lead TNA into the future. While speaking with The Sportster, Slater opened up about what it was like to hear those comments from someone he grew up idolizing.
“There’s almost two sides to it, where l’ve been so spoiled over the past year that I’ve got to work with Matt and Jeff so much in TNA that when I hear or see stuff like that it’s like, ‘Oh, that’s cool that Jeff said something nice about me.’ And then I take a step back and I think about who I looked up to growing up, and who was my favorite wrestler, and who I had the most figures of, and who I had all the merch, and who I painted my face just to be like, you know what I mean? And I go, ‘Jeff Hardy is saying that about me?!’ Which is absolutely insane,” Slater said.
“So whether it’s Jeff, Matt, AJ Styles, any of these veterans that I’ve grown up watching, it really spurs me on. Because it’s a thing now for me of not only proving maybe some people that didn’t think I could make it to where I am and don’t think I can make it past where I am, it’s not only proving them wrong, but it’s proving myself and the people that do believe in me right. So it’s proving a Jeff Hardy right, an AJ Styles right, a Matt Hardy right, a Tommy Dreamer right. You know what I mean? So it’s real good motivation for me. And it’s obviously super cool that Jeff thinks of me that highly.”
One of the best young wrestlers in the world, Slater is the current TNA X-Division Champion and has already crossed over into WWE through the promotion’s partnership with TNA.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.