Cruz Montana Hits Back At Grayson Waller After His Return To WWE NXT

Cruz Montana has mixed feelings on Grayson Waller’s WWE NXT return.

During last night’s episode of WWE NXT, Grayson Waller made a shock return to the developmental brand with a fiery promo reflecting on the past year. Waller took aim at several members of the roster, including Austin Theory, Tony D’Angelo and the entire NXT men’s division, while also targeting NXT’s newest signing, Cruz Montana, formerly known as Mike Santana, claiming he should not be in line for an immediate shot at the NXT Championship. Waller also took a swipe at modern TNA, comparing being its World Champion to being the “best basketball player at the local YMCA”.

Speaking on Busted Open Radio, Montana praised Waller for his bold promo but disagreed with his comments about his path to NXT.

“I’m always someone who will give props where they’re due. I was in his shoes before. I was pissed off at the world. I had opportunities taken from me. I had a ceiling put on me. I get it. So I’ve got to give him props for speaking his mind, but you don’t know me. You don’t know what I’ve been through. You don’t know what I’ve gone through to get here.”

-Cruz Montana

Montana signed with WWE this month after departing TNA, where he spent the previous two years and became a two-time World Champion. Santana previously competed in TNA, then known as Impact, as part of LAX alongside Ortiz from 2017 to 2019.

The duo captured the Impact Tag Team Championships four times, holding the record for the most combined days as champions. Santana and Ortiz later signed with AEW in 2019, where they competed as Proud & Powerful until 2023, with Santana then turning his attention towards pursuing singles success.

The July 28 episode of NXT closed with Montana accidentally attacking NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo after Waller avoided the blow, meaning the path towards the title is likely to be less straightforward than it initially appeared for the former TNA and AEW star.

Waller’s comments have drawn both praise and criticism from members of the wrestling community, with WWE Champion CM Punk among those to praise the promo. You can read more about that here.

H/T to Figure Four Online for the transcription.