Cedric Alexander beat Leon Slater for the TNA X Division Championship, stopping Slater’s bid to pass Austin Aries for the division’s longest reign.
Cedric Alexander is the new TNA X Division champion after defeating Leon Slater in a two-out-of-three falls match Thursday night on “Impact” in Sacramento, California, ending Slater’s attempt to make division history.
Slater entered the match with a chance to surpass Austin Aries as the longest-reigning X Division champion. Aries’ reign lasted 298 days after beginning in September 2011, according to the supplied reporting, but Slater’s run ended before he could move past that mark.
The title match swung sharply after Slater grabbed the opening fall with a quick roll-up. Alexander answered by taking control, attacking Slater’s neck and tying the match with a Lumbar Check.
Slater pushed back with an avalanche Styles Clash and later set up for a swanton 450, but Alexander survived the champion’s late offense. After Slater missed the high-risk move, Alexander landed repeated Lumbar Checks and pinned him to win the championship.
The victory gives Alexander his first reign as TNA X Division champion and his first title in TNA. The result also reshapes a title picture that had been centered on whether Slater could extend his reign into the company record book.
Alexander’s next obstacle may already be in view. Moments before “Impact” went off the air, Fabian Aichner appeared in the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium and stared down the new champion, signaling himself as a possible challenger for the X Division title.
Aichner, who was known as Giovanni Vinci during much of his WWE run, had not been seen or heard from in months after leaving WWE, according to the report. He previously wrestled under his real name before returning as Vinci in 2022, and his résumé includes two NXT tag team title reigns and an Evolve championship.
The rest of Thursday’s “Impact” also set up future title movement. Eric Young won a 10-man over-the-top battle royal to earn a future shot at Mike Santana’s TNA World Championship. Later, Daria Rae revealed that Steve Maclin had been cleared to return from injury and would receive a TNA World Championship match against Santana next week.
The Knockouts title picture also tightened, with Xia Brookside confronting Lei Ying Lee after Lee brought the championship back the previous week. In another featured match, A.J. Francis defeated KC Navarro in a SacTown Street Fight.
For now, the most immediate question is how quickly TNA moves from Alexander’s title win to his first defense — and whether Aichner’s appearance was the start of that chase.
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