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AEW recently parted ways with a veteran star. Now, the 33-year-old has opened up on what was a very dark time in his personal and professional life.
Mike Santana and Ortiz were a top tag team in All Elite Wrestling until real-life issues led to their split last year. The company fueled rumors about Santana's status when he was recently pulled from the official roster, but then the New York City native confirmed his departure.
Santana recently appeared on Chris Van Vliet's Insight podcast, where he was asked about the situation surrounding his All Elite Wrestling departure. The former TNA World Tag Team Champion said he made the decision to leave the company.
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"Like I was telling you, my decision to leave AEW came well before my injury. I got hurt in June of 2022, and at that point, I was just dealing with so much in my life, personally and professionally, at work, and I was just burnt out. My contract was coming up in September, I believe, and I had already made the decision that I'm not going to re-sign. I just needed to take a break and deal with the things that I needed to deal with. And yeah, so then the injury happened. So, a lot of that was going on during that time." [From 2:19 to 3:09]
Santana was later asked if All Elite Wrestling officials wanted to re-sign him and if they made an offer. He reiterated the decision to leave and said he just needed to get away and take a break.
"I'm not sure, but I wasn't really actively pursuing it. The time was coming up. Like I said, it was June when I got hurt. Our contract was up August, I think it was, and I wasn't really like actively pursuing [and saying], 'Oh, are you guys going to re-sign us?' Because already in my head, I was like, 'Yeah, I need to get away. I need to take a break.' But I'm sure something would have worked out, and they probably would have re-signed us. But yeah, man (...) during that time, it was a very dark time for me." [From 3:15 to 4:01]
Santana's last AEW match was a win over Ortiz in a No DQ match. The 13-minute bout aired on the October 27, 2023, edition of Rampage. Since leaving AEW, the star has worked for HOG and GCW, among other indie promotions.
Mike Santana wins world championship following AEW run
Mike Santana recently left AEW after wrestling his final match in October. This put an end to his near-five-year tenure with the company. He was reportedly unhappy in the company for a long time.
Santana immediately returned to the indies, where he made his name years before AEW launched. Including his last two AEW matches, the former TNA star is currently on a winning streak.
Santana captured the HOG World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Matt Cardona in a No DQ match on December 1 at House of Glory's Darkest Hour event. As seen below, HOG declared that The SANTANA Era has begun.
Santana has retained the HOG World Heavyweight Championship twice since defeating Cardona. He defeated Josh Alexander in January and then secured a win over Penta El Zero Miedo earlier this month.
If you use any quotes from the article's first half, please credit Insight and add an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.
