WrestleCon Promoter Reveals Leon Slater Wasn't Going To Lose Against Ricochet

WrestleCon promoter and Highspots owner Michael Bochicchio has confirmed that Leon Slater was not going to lose to Ricochet in their match that was originally scheduled to headline the Mark Hitchcock Memorial SuperShow on Thursday, April 16. The match will not be taking place, however, after TNA pulled Slater from the contest.

"We went directly to Leon's boss. We went directly to Ricochet's boss. We told them what the finish of the match would be to protect the individual. A lot of people think, 'They didn't want Leon to lose.' Guys, I'm going to be honest, Leon wasn't losing. Come up with a different theory on why they pulled him because that had nothing to do with it. The match and finish were cleared," Bochicchio revealed to POST Wrestling.

Leon Slater vs. Ricochet was scrapped in early April, along with several other matches featuring TNA wrestlers against AEW talents. The official response from TNA was the company pulled their wrestlers from the matches due to "partner conflicts", but people involved in the situation reportedly believe WWE forced TNA's hand.

Bochicchio doesn't believe that was the case, however, and he thinks TNA President Carlos Silva was instead upset by AEW Collision airing at the same time as TNA Thursday Night IMPACT on April 2.

"I believe Carlos got upset AEW ran on a Thursday, hurt their ratings, and everything changed. That's my opinion. Maybe WWE has more involvement than we ever thought, but Carlos can say to WWE, 'Guys, I gave my word on this match. I would like to be able to follow through with my word,'" Bochicchio added.

AEW Collision traditionally airs on TNT at 8 pm ET on Saturday nights, but the show was pre-empted by Warner Bros. Discovery due to coverage of March Madness. The pre-emption meant Collision and Thursday Night IMPACT aired against each other for one hour from 9 pm to 10 pm ET.

TNA's ratings for the April 2 episode were down 22 per cent from the March 26 edition of Thursday Night IMPACT, and reports noted that Carlos Silva was unhappy about Collision airing on Thursday night.

The new main event of the Mark Hitchcock Memorial SuperShow features five AEW talents as The Demand's Ricochet, Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona take on "Speedball" Mike Bailey, Kevin Knight and Michael Oku.

H/T F4WOnline