Mike Santana reflects on why he left AEW.
In August of 2019, Mike Santana made his AEW debut alongside his then tag team partner Ortiz. The 34-year-old remained part of the company for almost five years, competing in his final match there in October 2023 and officially leaving the company in March of the following year. Now, Santana has looked back on why he decided to leave All Elite Wrestling.
Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show, Santana stated the importance of constant growth, saying that he isn’t someone who’s happy to collect a paycheque.
“I’m the type of person that I need constant growth in my life. And especially in this line of—any line of work, right? If you’re not growing then what are we doing, right? And ultimately, that was the ultimate case. A lot of unhappiness. A lot of, you know, things that I just wasn’t about. And ultimately, business is business, right? I’m a brand the same way that they’re a brand, and I was like ‘I need to take care of my brand and I need to continue growing.’”
-Mike Santana
Discussing getting his departure, Santana revealed that he asked for his release from AEW two or three times before it was granted. The star has since returned to TNA Wrestling, and, as part of the company’s partnership with WWE, has made appearances on the NXT brand. Here, while he’s recently unsuccessfully challenged Trick Williams for the TNA World Championship, he remains in the hunt for the title and a focal point of the singles division.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on Mike Santana as soon as we hear more.
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