Twelve years gone, and now the Phenomenal one AJ Styles is back where it all started. The former X-Division icon made a surprise return to TNA Wrestling at Slammiversary 2025, stepping into the spotlight not to reclaim old glory, but to crown the next generation: Leon Slater.
Slater, just 19 years old, pulled off the biggest win of his career by taking down Moose to claim the X-Division Championship. After nailing a brutal Swanton Bomb into 450 combo to seal the victory, the arena was already losing its mind.
Then Styles’ music hit and the place absolutely erupted.
For long time fans (myself included), this wasn’t just a pop, it was a full circle moment. The man who helped define the X-Division was back in a TNA ring, and he wasn’t there for himself. Styles walked straight to the ring and handed Slater his moment, urging him to carry the legacy forward as the youngest X-Division champion in TNA’s history.
It was the closest thing TNA’s had to a genuine ‘passing of the torch’ moment in years.
Ahead of his return, Styles dropped a reflective letter to his younger self on social media, titled ‘Two Eras. One Legacy. AJ Returns.’ In it, he told his past self to embrace the struggle, stay hungry, and trust the timing of it all.
“You’re not just phenomenal,” he wrote. “You’re built for this.”
For a guy who’s fought everywhere from Tokyo to WrestleMania, walking back into a TNA ring wasn’t just nostalgia, it was respect. Respect for where he came from and respect for what the X-Division built.
Leon Slater’s got the title now. Whether he can carry the weight of that history? Time will tell, one things for sure, we’ll be watching with great anticipation.
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