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Leon Slater will be in one of the biggest fights of his young pro wrestling career on Thursday night as he defends the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) X Division Championship against Cedric Alexander.
Should Slater defeat Alexander, he will solidify himself as the longest reigning X Division Champion, surpassing Austin Aries for the record. Aries held the title for 298 days as of September 2011, relinquishing it only to get a shot at the TNA World Championship.
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Leon Slater makes his way to the ring during SmackDown at the OVO Arena Wembley in London on January 16, 2026. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
TNA compatriot AJ Francis hopes Slater pulls out the victory against Alexander. He said he wants to take the title from the waist as he proclaimed to be the “biggest heel” in the company.
“Hopefully Leon wins because the person who should take the X Division title from Leon is me. I’m the biggest heel in TNA,” Francis told Pakinomist Digital. “I’m really the biggest heel in wrestling. I’m such a big heel that there’s this whole initiative that there was a streamer that was excited to see me on Reality of Wrestling at a show and it’s become, like, a thing where, ‘There was no way this guy was that excited to see AJ’ Wow. Like, I’m such a heel that no one else can enjoy my presence that you don’t hate. wrestling businesses get hyped just like me.
“I mean really, if we call a spade a spade, who else in the wrestling business gets booed? The top heels, the guys who are supposed to be the top heels, the MJFs, Dominik Mysterios, the guys they get booed. Fans cheer them when they come out. And who’s actually getting booed in today, but then I’m the one getting booed today. you’ve got Joe Hendry who just remixed the same song that he made it to me two years ago and everyone’s like, ‘This is so cool. I’m the ultimate provider. I’m the best big man in the business.’
AJ Francis visits SiriusXM on Radio Row at Super Bowl LX in San Francisco, California on February 5, 2026. (Cindy Ord/Getty Images)
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Francis added that there would be no one better to take the X Division title from Slater, adding that he was cheated of the title in his previous match against Slater.
“So who would be better to take that X Division title off Leon Slater than me? Who would have a better reaction to take that X Division off Leon Slater than me? And also, by the way, in the one match I had against Leon Slater for the X Division title, I got cheated by BDE, Rich Swann and the referee,” he said.
Francis then sounded off on critics and naysayers who have apparently lined up to do him wrong.
AJ Francis visits SiriusXM on Radio Row at Super Bowl LX in San Francisco, California on February 5, 2026. (Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM)
“Those are the facts. Look, that’s the thing, I come here and speak the facts and people get mad at me for speaking the facts,” he told Pakinomist Digital. “Because in this wrestling business, it’s full of these cowards who are only tough in interviews and only tough behind a TV screen, and they’re not tough in real life. They don’t want you saying things that are facts that can be ‘misconstrued’ as trying to ‘get heat’ or ‘trying to go into business for yourself.’ I go into business for myself. I’ve been in business for myself.
“I was in business for myself when everybody told me I was worthless 2 1/2 years ago. I was in business for myself then. So why should I pretend I’m not in business for myself now? I think if you don’t appreciate the things that I bring to the table as the best big man in the business, as the best heel in the business, personally, I feel, ‘F—‘. And if you have a problem with me saying that’s your problem. I don’t go out of my way to talk down to anybody. The problem is they bring a knife to a gunfight and they get slapped.”
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Francis will take on KC Navarro in a SacTown Street Fight on “Impact” in Sacramento, California. The show can be seen live on AMC at 9 p.m. ET.
