Heartbreaking reason behind Santana's AEW absence revealed

Santana has not appeared on AEW Dynamite for the past couple of weeks, and it was initially reported that the Inner Circle member was given a break due to personal reasons.

Santana took to Instagram to reveal that his stepfather passed away last week. In a long and poignant post, Santana paid a touching tribute to his stepfather.

The AEW star admitted that he suffered several setbacks in 2020, but that hasn't affected his pride and morale. Santana spoke about the importance of moving on before revealing that he was dealing with his stepfather's sudden death.

Santana explained his stepfather's influence in his life and promised to hold it down for his family and take care of his mother.

Santana also thanked his fans, family, and friends for all the support during these testing times.

Here's what Santana posted on Instagram, which was accompanied by several photos of his stepfather:

This year has literally tried to break me in half... It's like I've been hit with every knockout punch life has, but my pride won't let me go down. I've been waiting to wake up from this nightmare since Jan 1st, but truth is, there's no waking up from life. There's only taking it on the chin and moving forward. Last week, my family and I suffered another huge loss with the sudden passing of my step father. I can go on forever about what this man meant to my family and I. My respect for him was infinite and I will forever be grateful for the love and admiration he had for all of us, but most of all, the love and respect he had for my mother. As a kid, he'd always encourage me to follow my dreams. He worked his ass off everyday to make sure we always had what we needed. Just the true definition of a working family man. I can never repay you for what you did for us. But I will continue our job of holding down the family and taking care of mom. Thank you for all the memories, lessons, advice, understanding, and love. It'll be with me forever. Love you, Jose. RIP 🙏🏼 Ps. Thank you to all the family, friends, and peers who have reached out to offer their love and support. And thank you to the fans who have expressed their concerns but have given my family and I respect/privacy during this time. Thank you.

We at Sportskeeda would like to send our condolences to Santana and his family.

Santana to return on next week's AEW Dynamite

Santana will return to AEW TV on next week's episode of AEW Dynamite. Following the latest AEW Dynamite edition, Tony Khan announced a huge 14-man tag team match for next week, including the returning Santana.

Sorry, great night of #AEWDynamite but bad typo by me. You’re fighting too @RealJakeHager. 7-on-7, the whole Inner Circle v. Top Flight/Cutler/Varsity Blonds/Best Friends! So many exciting possibilities, but no 2 teams in AEW have more bad blood than Santana/Ortiz v. Best Friends

— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) December 10, 2020

The seven members of Inner Circle will take on Top Flight, Brandon Cutler, Varsity Blondes, and The Best Friends on another stacked episode of AEW Dynamite.