Uhaa Nation On How His TNA Slammiversary Appearance Came Together

Uhaa Nation made a surprise appearance at TNA Slammiversary following his WWE exit, and he recently recalled how it came about. The former Apollo Crews made his debut for the promotion at Slammiversary in late June, competing in the TNA Intercontinental Championship match against Mustafa Ali and Rich Swann.

Uhaa spoke about the match during his appearance on Insight With Chris Van Vliet. He confirmed that it was a one-off at the time and that he didn’t think he could do it because he was still not a free agent. You can see highlights below:

On His Future In Wrestling:

“I’m 39 now, but I still feel like I have a lot to give in wrestling. The thing is, I just don’t feel like I’m in a hurry to give that at this moment. I don’t feel this burning desire like I have to do it right now. And the opportunity may never come to do it, but I think I’ve gotten to the point where I’m okay with that too.”

On His TNA Appearance Being a One-Off:

“Yeah. The story behind that, it’s pretty interesting. TNA had reached out to WWE ’cause I was still within that 90-day release period of non-compete, where I technically couldn’t wrestle for anybody else. TNA got in contact with WWE and I think Moose may have been the first one to call me and told me that TNA was looking to bring me in for Slammiversary. And my first thought was like, ‘Man, I’m in my 90 days. No way that’s gonna happen.’ So I kind of brushed it off.”

“And at the time we were on our drive at one of the resorts, kind of just taking a staycation. And shortly after that, Lee had called me and presented the same idea, and was like, ‘I think they’re trying to get me and you to work at Slammiversary.’ And he asked me, he’s like, ‘Now the issue is, would you be okay losing?’ And I was like — at the time I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to wrestle. Because this was like not even a month after the release. I still was trying to figure things out how I felt about wrestling and all that. And my response to him was like, ‘I spent my whole career losing at WWE. The first thing outside of WWE that I don’t want to do is lose.’ And he respected my answer. He was like, ‘I completely respect that. I would have said the same thing.’

On Ultimately Doing the Show:

“And again, I get a call from Moose shortly after that. And he’s like, ‘They’re saying that you don’t want to do the match or whatever.’ And I was like, ‘Hold up. I didn’t say I don’t want to do the match. I just said, I don’t think that I want to come in there and lose after being losing literally every single match since before I tore my pec.’ The last time I won, I think, was the night I tore my pec when I wrestled Gargano, and I ended up winning that match. But this was February 2025… So, over a year and a half maybe, we’re talking, or a year and some change. “So eventually what they end up doing was like, ‘Okay, we can do a three-way with you, Rich Swann, and Mustafa Ali where you end up not taking the pin. But we just want to come out here and want you to have a good match.’ And talking to my wife, I was like, “This would be something good.”