AEW star 'not happy for a long time' before departure

Following Santana’s removal from the company’s roster page, it was reported that Santana is officially done with AEW.
Per Dave Meltzer in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Santana ‘just wanted out’ of AEW after a singles push didn’t materialize for him.

Noting that he wasn’t happy for a long time leading up to his exit, Meltzer wrote:
Mike Santana, 33, has left the company. This isn’t a surprise as he hasn’t been happy there in a long time. He was wanting a singles push and it wasn’t materializing, so he just wanted out.
He beat Ortiz on 10/25 in a great grudge match on television, and then was never used again.

While Santana and AEW parted ways last week, Fightful’s previous report stated that he hadn’t been backstage at AEW shows in months.
Despite this, Santana has been active on the independent scene.
His most recent match took place on Sunday (March 3) at an ETU event.

He last wrestled for AEW in October 2023, defeating his former tag partner Ortiz on the October 27 edition of Rampage.
Santana had been with AEW since 2019, first in a tag team with Ortiz, who he’d teamed with as part of LAX before joining the company.
However, the two suffered a real-life falling out which led to them not working as a tag team since early 2022.

Despite legitimately not being on good terms, they were both part of the Blackpool Combat Club side in its feud with the Jericho Appreciation Society that year.
In the Blood & Guts match that ended that feud, Santana suffered a long-term injury and didn’t wrestle again until August 2023 at All In London.
Once again, despite the real-life issues, Santana and Ortiz were put on the same team, this time teaming with the BCC against Eddie Kingston, Penta El Zero Miedo and Best Friends in a Stadium Stampede match.

Santana and Ortiz then feuded, leading to their October 2023 Rampage bout.
Santana has not yet commented on his AEW departure.
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