Mike Santana Unveils Reason Behind Departure from AEW

After making a triumphant return to AEW in August of last year, Mike Santana was conspicuously absent from AEW television for an extended period until his departure from the company earlier this month. Santana has now revealed why he left AEW in the first place.

In case you missed it, Santana and his former tag team partner Ortiz were involved in a memorable and deeply personal feud on AEW Rampage last year, where they demonstrated their exceptional promo skills. Their No Disqualification match on the October 25th episode of AEW Rampage ended with Santana claiming victory. However, despite this notable win, Santana has been conspicuously absent from AEW television ever since.

Santana then expressed his frustration over lack of TV time and he eventually left the company this month. While speaking to Chris Van Vliet, Mike Santana revealed that his decision to leave AEW was made well before his injury occurred in June 2022. He cited personal and professional challenges and feeling burnt out as reasons for his departure. Despite his contract expiring in September, he had already decided not to renew and to take a break to address his personal issues.

Santana admitted that although he wasn’t actively pursuing a new contract, he believed something would have worked out if he had stayed. However, he emphasized that it was a dark time for him and he needed to prioritize his well-being.

”My decision to leave AEW came well before my my injury actually. I got hurt in June of 2022 and at that point I was just dealing with so much in my life personally and professionally at work. I was just burnt out like I my contract was coming up in September I believe and I had already made a decision that I’m not going to resign and I’m going to just I need to take a break and deal with with the things that I needed to deal with.”

”Then the injury happened so that was a lot was going on during that time did. I wasn’t really actively pursuing, like the time was coming up like I said it uh June I got hurt our contract was up August I wasn’t really like actively pursuing ‘oh are you guys going to resign us’ or because already in my head I was like ‘yo ‘I need to get away I need to take a break, but I’m sure something would have worked out. You know, they probably would have resigned us but yeah man during that time it was just it was a very dark time for me.”

The future for Mike Santana remains uncertain, and fans are eager to see what comes next for him. Many believe that AEW might not have fully utilized his abilities during his time with the company.

Do you feel AEW truly dropped the ball on Mike Santana? Sound off in the comments section below!

Please credit Ringside News if using the above quotes for your publication.