Add as a preferred source on Google Leon Slater got his hands on Cedric Alexander again, and this time he got the pin.
Slater teamed with Ricky Sosa to beat the X-Division Champion and Eddie Edwards of The System in the opener of the 7/30 TNA iMPACT, live from the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia on AMC. Slater took the hot tag, ducked a Lumbar Check attempt from Alexander, and hit the Swanton 450 for the three after Sosa cleared Edwards out of the picture.
Slater grabbed a mic after the match, called Alexander a bum, and said that since he’d just pinned him, he’d earned another shot at the X-Division Title — in a cage, at Lockdown. TNA’s cage-themed PPV returns for the first time since 2016 on Sunday, August 23 at the Credit Union 1 Arena in Chicago, with every match on the card contested inside the steel.
The two have been at this all year. Slater retained over Alexander in the opener at Rebellion on 4/11 in Cleveland, hitting a Styles Clash onto the belt and the Swanton 450. Alexander got it back on the 5/14 live iMPACT in Sacramento, beating Slater in a 2-out-of-3 Falls match with back-to-back Lumbar Checks and ending his reign at 298 days — leaving him tied with Austin Aries for the longest X-Division reign ever instead of breaking the record outright.
Slater came up short again in the Ultimate X match at Slammiversary on 6/28 in Boston. He and Amazing Red unhooked the belt while hanging from the cables, but Alexander swooped in underneath, snatched it out of Slater’s hands, and retained.