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Match Point: AJ Styles And Dragon Lee vs TNA’s Leon Slater And NXT’s Je’Von Evans
Courtesy of TNA Wrestling

Match Point: AJ Styles And Dragon Lee vs TNA’s Leon Slater And NXT’s Je’Von Evans

Originally posted on Last Word On Sports
By Steph Franchomme  |  Last updated Dec 11, 2025 7:00 AM ET

Match Point is an ongoing series at Last Word on Pro Wrestling, where we look at intriguing matchups. They may be dream matches, first-time matchups, or hotly anticipated rematches. In this edition, we focus on the Tag Team match between AJ Styles and Dragon Lee vs. TNA’s Leon Slater and NXT’s Je’Von Evans at Saturday Night Main Event XLII.

John Cena wanted the PLE of his last match not to be a celebration of his past, but a look at the future of the company. After opening the show, Cena will leave the spotlight to the young blood. NXT Champion, Oba Femi, will face Cody Rhodes. Sol Ruca will square off with Bayley.

Also, TNA X-Division Champion Leon Slater and NXT’s Je’Von Evans, aka the Youngest in Charge and the Young OG, will try to dethrone the World Tag Team Champions, AJ Styles and Dragon Lee. It may be the last time for John Cena, but for AJ Styles, too. This match may end up being his last bout against a TNA guy. Sadly, it may not happen in the iMPACT Zone that saw him become the Phenomenal One.

As AJ Styles announced his retirement in 2026, this tag team match could mean more than we imagine.

AJ Styles May Never Come to TNA Again

Since AJ Styles appeared at TNA Slammiversary 2025, every TNA and AJ Styles fan has been asking themselves if he could have one last match in TNA before retiring. AJ Styles came to Slammiversary as the first X-Division Champion, acknowledging the new and youngest X-Division Champion, Leon Slater. Styles didn’t compete, nor did he pretend he would.

Joe Hendry, Mike Santana, Leon Slater, and many more wrestlers want to be Styles’s last opponent. AJ Styles once said Frankie Kazarian would be a good choice. The question has been: Would WWE let Styles come to compete in TNA? After Slammiversary, he explained that he wasn’t meant to compete that night, and he wasn’t sure it could happen.

Whatever Styles, Kazarian, or TNA wants, it seems more and more obvious that TNA has to come to WWE to allow Styles to have one last TNA match. Styles recently said that the chances of him coming back to TNA are close to zero, even more so since the NXT/TNA partnership, “I was hoping that this would happen, but then I realized it probably never could, as far as WWE letting me do that.”

Leon Slater vs AJ Styles Finally Happening

Because he acknowledged Slater at TNA Slammiversary, Styles vs. Slater is a dream match. Joe Hendry said multiple times that Leon Slater was the “Future AJ Styles.” AJ Styles confirmed it, saying to Leon Slater, “Here, the talent is better than it’s ever been.” The first-ever TNA X-Division Champion said Leon Slater didn’t deserve it; he earned it.

Styles also congratulated Slater on becoming the youngest X-Division Champion of all time. “You didn’t just impress me tonight, Leon, you made me realize why I love this business,” said Styles to one of his biggest fans. “Guys like you make people like me love what they do. So, thank you for that.”

Styles vs. Slater is a mirror-effect match, with one man wrestling a younger version of himself. Slater is exactly like Styles when TNA Wrestling was created. TNA is the company where Styles’ name was built. Same for Leon Slater, who has been given all the support and the opportunities to make a name for himself on TNA. We can call that magic. It’s simply phenomenal.


Courtesy of TNA Wrestling

Generations Crossing: A Passing of The Torch

When AJ Styles is 48, Slater and Evans are only 21 (Styles’ oldest child, Ajay, is a year younger than them). Saying that Slater and Evans are the future of this business is an understatement. They don’t wrestle, they fly. A bit like the Hardys, who acknowledged Slater, too, as an honorary Hardy. Teaming up with Styles is Dragon Lee, the 30-year-old Luchador who makes us think of a young Rey Mysterio.

Whether the titles are on the line or not, this match is a must-watch, a passing of a Phenomenal torch. Watching Leon Slater on TNA iMPACT provides the same pleasure that Styles provided 15 or 20 years ago, same for Evans in NXT. As Styles did before, they are innovators in the ring and strong characters both in and outside the ring.

It would be easy to stop with: This match will be phenomenal. Of course, it will be. A philosopher (Hegel, I think) said that History is made of histories, like stories or moments. Watching this match will make you become a part of History. On Saturday night, the story of AJ Styles, Leon Slater, Dragon Lee, and Je’Von Evans will become a part of the History of the wrestling business. It will remind us why we love wrestling so much.

This article first appeared on Last Word On Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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