Could Mike Santana be WWE bound someday?
Since Santana left AEW in March 2024, the New York native has been tearing it up as a singles star in TNA Wrestling. He came in hot at TNA’s Rebellion with a great match against Steve Maclin and TNA has done an excellent job of booking him as a singles star. Of course, Santana has stepped up to the plate and proven that AEW made a mistake by putting him on the sidelines.
Like every professional wrestler who enters this business, their dream is to ultimately end up in the WWE. There were whispers in 2019 that the company was interested in Santana & Ortiz, but the Proud & Powerful members opted to go to AEW instead. The former TNA World Tag Team Champion spoke to Tim Hann Rivera about possibly joining WWE and it’s about timing for the TNA star:
"You never say never in pro wrestling, never. But, like I said the right opportunity needs to present itself. Timing is everything. As of right now, I'm loving what I'm doing with TNA. They're allowing me to grow and do a lot of things and that's where my mind is set right now," he said. "But again, everyone's ultimate goal is to go to WWE. That's the top, right? We'll see. We'll see how life presents itself and how things go, man, but I never leave any door closed. That's one thing that you always learn in life, in general, you don't burn bridges, you don't leave doors closed. I think it would be pretty cool."
The trajectory that Santana’s career is going then it wouldn’t be a surprise if he gets snatched up by WWE. There’s no word on how long Santana’s contract is, though Santana noted that he is in the promotion for the long haul.
However, the interview isn't just about Santana possibly joining WWE. It also touched on his time in AEW. It’s no secret that the 33-year-old was unhappy with his position towards the end of his AEW run. Santana said in the interview that he enjoyed early parts of AEW, but felt that he wasn’t growing after the Inner Circle stuff:
"If you're not progressing in this business, then you're dying," Santana said. "And that's with anything, any job. If you're not working to get a higher position or to progress in any way, then what are we doing here? And I've always said that my biggest thing was that I want to grow. I've always lived my life and every aspect where I'm chasing what's next. 'How are we going to grow? How are we going to continue building?' And it got to a point where it was like that wasn't happening, and we weren't getting those opportunities. And I just wasn't feeling that."
Check out the full interview where he talks about the Pros of working in AEW and TNA’s future.