Thoughts on Mike Santana's impending free agency

The current Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling World Champion is facing impending free agency.

Mike Johnson of PW Insider reported on Monday that Mike Santana's contractual obligations with TNA Wrestling are set to expire later next month, and noted WWE's prior interest in the 35-year-old pro wrestler. The industry expectation is that Santana will make the jump to The Fed, and I think it would be a massive mistake for him. 

I must make this note before continuing: we do not know what matters most to Santana, and he must make the decision that's best for him and his family. This article is strictly coming from the "all things being equal" perspective, and should be read as such. 

Santana departed AEW in March of 2024 after reports of massive tension with his former longtime tag team partner, Ortiz, and with great frustration over his usage. He decided to bet on himself, became a 2-time TNA World Champion, and will very likely receive an offer from WWE. His decision should be an easy one on the surface, but...

We've seen this play out before. Santana will likely spend a year or two in NXT, with regins with the NXT and North American Championships likely in the cards. He'll headline a few Premium Live Events in front of an insufferable audience who do not care about his skills as a pro wrestler, and everyone will be wondering out loud when his call-up to the main roster will happen, if ever. 

There is currently a feeling of instability surrounding TKO-owned WWE. They have asked - and gotten - veterans to accept pay cuts (reportedly as much as 50%), Paul Levesque is floundering as the company's Chief Content Officer, and the track record for former AEW-to-WWE stars has simply not been very good. 

Ricky Saints looks absolutely cooked. Rey Fenix was a staple at the catering table (before recently capturing a meaningless AAA Championship). Blake Monroe had a flat-out bad run in NXT, though she seems to genuinely love being a WWE Superstar, so...that's something? 

Aliester Black was unceremoniously released from his WWE contract - twice. Danhausen is one of the bigger success stories, and he's a specialty character who is being shoved down their audience's throats far more than Joe Hendry ever was. Royce Keys spent weeks, if not months, doing absolutely nothing following his debut at the Royal Rumble.

It's not hard to see Santana suffering the same fate. 

I would love for Santana to return to AEW, and I think Andrade El Idolo is the template. Andrade left AEW on good terms, realized the grass was not greener with Big Nose in charge, and has been on a mad tear in AEW since. He went from being a discarded WWE mid-carder to once again establishing himself as one of the best wrestlers on the roster, and he is making the most of his opportunities whenever he is on television.

It's the roadmap I'd like Santana to follow. Santana would likely get significantly more money from Tony Khan than TKO. He could be added to one of the biggest and most successful stables on weekly television in The Don Callis Family and reintroduce himself to an audience most familiar with him from his time tagging with Ortiz. 

It would also be another opportunity for Khan to silence the doubters, as he did when bringing back Andrade. I will always contend that Proud and Powerful should've had a memorable run with the AEW World Tag Team Championship, but it sounds like that ship has sailed (though never say never). It would be pretty awesome to bring back Santana as a title contender. It would fit the current vibe of the Men's World title scene, wherein everyone wants a shot at the gold and is putting on incredible matches on a near-weekly basis. 

It would also be a move to further weaken TNA, whose ratings on AMC are disappointing at best. It feels like we're dangerously closer to the company being absorbed by WWE, but that's another story for a different day. 

The road map is there for Santana and Khan. 

I hope it happens.

I doubt it happens. 

Just think about it, Mike. Open your eyes, look at the landscape, and take another gamble on yourself.