After rumors began earlier in the day, reigning TNA X-Division Champion Leon Slater is officially out of his highly anticipated match against Ricochet for next week’s WrestleCon Mark Hitchcock Memorial SuperShow in Las Vegas.
The reason: TNA president Carlos Silva pulled Slater.
“Despite being previously cleared by all parties and respective management, Leon Slater has been pulled from this match one week prior to our Memorial event. We will have more to say at a later time, but we wanted to be immediately transparent to all fans.”
Fightful reported Wednesday that according to sources, Silva wasn’t happy with AEW Collision airing last Thursday head-to-head against Impact even though it was WBD’s call. The outlet had noted earlier Wednesday that Silva pulled some talent from shows due to “partner conflicts.”
To this point, neither Silva, Ricochet or Slater have commented publicly on the situation which we’ll have more on as part of tonight’s Wrestling Observer Radio.
Despite being previously cleared by all parties and respective management, Leon Slater has been pulled from this match one week prior to our Memorial event. We will have more to say at a later time, but we wanted to be immediately transparent to all fans. https://t.co/O1v7yrmyvd
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.