Santana and Ortiz, better known as the tag team Proud n’ Powerful in AEW, last wrestled alongside each other and Blackpool Combat Club in a Blood & Guts match against the Jericho Appreciation Society. Their team came out on top that night, but unfortunately, Santana suffered a torn ACL that has kept him out of action ever since. Fightful reports that following a series of vignettes on his social media teasing his return to AEW action, Santana has been cleared to wrestle.
The report also noted that the relationship between the two former tag team partners appears to still be on the rocks. Not much is known about why the two men have drifted apart during Santana’s time away from AEW TV, and when he returns, it is not entirely clear it will be as part of the tag team division.
In an exclusive Haus of Wrestling interview, I asked Konnan, who worked with both men in Impact as part of LAX, what led to their falling out and where their relationship stands today.
“I definitely talked to both of them to try to make them mend fences,” he revealed. “Ortiz was definitely down to talk. Santana is kind of like me when I was young; he’s kind of a hothead, you know? And so he was really adamant that Ortiz didn’t kind of stand by him when he thought he should have, and that’s a lot of bad feelings. I’m like, bro; this is, you know, Ortiz is cool; he’s not a bad guy.
“He’s kind of a go-with-the-flow type of guy, whereas Santana is very, like, ‘They’re not doing nothing with us. They need to do something with us,’ and Ortiz says, ‘Yeah, just chill.’ So, I think that was kind of the crux of their problem. I do believe that they’ll talk, and there’s a good chance they’ll put them together. But Santana is of the mindset, and I agree with him 100%, where a lot of people are in AEW, it’s like, ‘Bro, even though you’re paying me, my stock is never gonna go up if you don’t use me,’ and you only have a small window of opportunity, as you know.
“So, from what Santana told me, not getting too much into details, his whole thing was I’m going to talk with Tony, and if they’re not going to do anything with me, then I have a decision to make, you know what I’m saying? But we’re talking about half the roster feels that way.”
My full conversation with Konnan is now available on the Haus of Wrestling YouTube channel and podcast feed.
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