Matt Hardy Calls Leon Slater His Son After 22-Year-Old Makes Wrestling History

Matt Hardy opens up about mentoring TNA's youngest-ever World Champion.© NDTV Library

Matt Hardy says Leon Slater is like a son to him, and he isn't shy about how far he thinks the kid can go. Slater is 22 and already the youngest TNA World Champion ever, which is a pretty wild milestone at that age. Hardy has spent years around some of wrestling's biggest names, so his opinion carries weight, and he believes Slater gets the business far better than most wrestlers his age. He has also taken a personal interest in how Slater is growing as a performer. Hardy recently explained what makes the British wrestler stand out.

Matt Hardy Has Taken Leon Slater Under His Wing and Considers Him Family

In a recent interview, Hardy talked about his growing role as a mentor in TNA. The former world champion likes helping younger wrestlers develop, and he doesn't see himself giving that up anytime soon.

“I love being able to work with younger talent and nurture them. It's very enjoyable to me. As long as I can do that, I probably will,” Hardy said.

Slater has a special spot with him too, and Hardy even jokes about him being his son. The same goes for AEW's Private Party duo, Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen.

“I feel like Leon [Slater] is my son. I feel like Private Party, Isiah [Kassidy] and [Marq] Quen, they're my kids,” he added.

Hardy Believes Leon Slater Understands Professional Wrestling Beyond His Age

Slater won title at Bound For Glory 2026, where he defeated Nic Nemeth to become the youngest TNA World Champion in history. Hardy thinks Slater's grasp of wrestling goes well past pulling off impressive moves inside the ring.

“He is so far mentally ahead of the curve. He thinks like he's been doing this for 15 years,” Hardy explained.

Hardy was especially high on how Slater gets audiences to care about his character and personality, and he also pointed to the progress Slater has made on the microphone. So that's two things he sees as a big part of the package.

There was also a conversation before the Nemeth match. Slater came to Hardy asking how to become a draw, meaning a name who actually sells tickets, and wanted to know how long it took Hardy and brother Jeff Hardy to get there.

Hardy told him it came through their tag team ladder match against Edge and Christian, then the matches with The Dudley Boyz, including the TLC matches. TLC stands for tables, ladders and chairs, and those weapons are all legal in the match.

Hardy also brought up his Broken Matt Hardy character. He developed it during his TNA run, back when the company was struggling financially.

Because of that history, he feels Slater has the right understanding of what it takes to reach that level, and he credits that understanding as a major reason for his confidence in the young champion.

Slater also showed up alongside Matt and Jeff Hardy in a recent TNA interview segment to celebrate his championship victory.