Mike Santana wants to fight the one and only AJ Styles.
After 18 long years, Mike Santana is the new TNA World Champion. Though the New York native started out as a tag team wrestler, Santana’s journey has seen plenty of ups and downs.
From being one of the first AEW talents and joining a top faction to one of the darkest periods of his career, Mike likely didn’t know where his career would go in 2024 until he took the risk by leaving AEW and returning to TNA.
From day one, TNA primed Santana to be a future world champion. They put him in high level feuds and the former AEW star excelled in whatever he was given. So it wasn’t surprise when TNA finally handed Mike the ball at Bound For Glory when he beat Trick Williams for the TNA World Championship. The whole world is on his shoulders and Mike is motivated to be an honorable champion who represents the best TNA.
"100%. Like before, I used to say this all the time. I had my city, my culture, and my family on my back. And now I have an entire company.” Santana said on The Stunner. And that’s something I don’t take lightly. And being the champion and and being the face of the company, it’s something I take very serious. So yeah, that motivation is is still there, if not tenfold. And I think right now I’m going to put out the very best that I’ve ever put out. So I’m excited.
And again, I love the freedom to still be able to do the independents. And it’s something that I came up through and it’s something I always pay my respects to. So, the fact that I still get to do these shows and it’s pretty cool.”
Of course, every world champion has a wrestler that they want to face. In the case of Santana, his dream match is against a TNA original who helped elevate the company in the early 2000’s.
"I have one dream match left. I’ve been thankful and blessed enough in my career to have worked with some amazing people. A lot of guys that I grew up watching and idolizing, but the one guy that’s left is AJ Styles. And I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. I want to wrestle AJ Styles one-on-one in a TNA ring for the World Title.”