Santos Escobar is staying with WWE afterall.
As of yesterday morning, Santos Escobar was no longer a WWE employee. In fact, his profile was quickly moved to the alumni section on WWE’s website. And while Santos’ profile is still under the alumni section (as of this writing), it’s been reported by PWInsider Elite that he’s come to a new agreement with WWE.
Originally, it was reported that Santos opted to not re-sign with WWE because he was worried about “spinning his wheels” rather than being utilized in the ring. And it was a valid concern as WWE really hasn’t figured out how to use the 41-year-old properly.
However, PWInsider Elite reported that officials heard about Santos’ concerns about his creative and offered him a new contract with a bigger deal than the original number. It’s believed that Santos signed the contract on Tuesday evening. It’s currently unknown when he’ll return to television.
There’s no report on if Santos was in discussions with anyone else before he re-signed a WWE contract. There were rumors that the former NXT Cruiserweight Champion was interested in signing with AEW, but it was never stated if Tony Khan was interested in bringing in Santos.
Santos first signed a deal with WWE in 2019. He made his official television debut in 2020 teaming with Raul Mendoza. He quickly won the NXT Cruiserweight Championship from Drake Maverick on May 27, 2020. He kept that title for 321 days by beating names such as Isiah Scott (aka former AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland), Gran Metalik, Trent Seven, Jake Atlas, and Jordan Devlin.
Once he lost the title, the rest of his time was him and Legado Del Fantasma feuding with different teams down in the developmental brand until he was called up to Smackdown on October 7, 2022. Beyond his feud with Rey Mysterio in 2023, Santos and Legado Del Fantasma floated around the lower/mid card. He did have a match at WrestleMania XL, teaming with Dominik Mysterio to take on Rey Mysterio and Andrade, with Mysterio and Andrade emerging victorious thanks to Lane Johnson and Jason Kelce.
Hopefully, WWE does use Santos properly this time around. He’s a talented performer who just hasn’t been given much of a chance to showcase his skills and personality beyond his Rey Mysterio feud. Santos has been posting pictures on social media as of late, but he hasn’t spoken about the situation thus far.