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Santana (wrestler)

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Santana
Santana in 2019
Birth nameMark Sanchez[1]
Born (1991-02-04) February 4, 1991 (age 33)
New York City, New York, United States[2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Mike Draztik
Santana[3]
Mike Santana
Billed height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Billed weight197 lb (89 kg)
Billed fromBrooklyn, New York
DebutNovember 2007

Mark Sanchez (born February 4, 1991),[2] better known by the ring name Santana, is an American professional wrestler signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he performs under the ring name Mike Santana. He also makes appearances for House of Glory (HOG), where he is the current HOG Heavyweight Champion in his first reign.

In 2012, Sanchez, then known as Mike Draztik, formed a tag team with Angel Ortiz, known as EYFBO (acronym for Entertain Your Fucking Balls Off or Entertain Your Freakin Butt Off)[4] and worked on the American independent scene for several years. They won titles such as the AAW Tag Team Championship, CZW World Tag Team Championship and the HOG Tag Team Championship.

In 2017, Dratzik and Angel Ortiz were hired by TNA, then known as Impact Wrestling, and they changed their names to Santana and Ortiz respectively. They joined Konnan as the members of the stable The Latin American Xchange (LAX) and became a big part of the promotion's tag team division. During their time in Impact, they won the World Tag Team titles four times, holding the record for most combined days as champions, with 662 days and, at one point, the record as the longest reign with 261 days. They also won GFW Tag Team Championship and unified the title with the Impact Tag Team Championship. Santana and Ortiz left the promotion in 2019 and, soon after, joined the newly created All Elite Wrestling, where they joined Chris Jericho's stable The Inner Circle. After Jericho and Jake Hager turned on them, Santana and Ortiz and teamed up with Eddie Kingston. Santana left AEW in 2024 and returned to TNA.

Professional wrestling career

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Impact Wrestling (2017–2019)

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Main article: Latin American Xchange

On the March 16, 2017 episode of Impact Wrestling, Sanchez, under the ring name Santana, made his debut as a member of The Latin American Xchange (LAX), alongside Ortiz. They became part of LAX with Homicide, Diamante, and manager Konnan, where attacked Decay, Laredo Kid, Garza Jr., and Reno Scum inserting themselves in the Impact World Tag Team Championship picture and winning them the following week, establishing themselves as heels in the process. On the March 30 episode of Impact, Ortiz and Santana defeated Decay, Laredo Kid and Garza Jr. and Reno Scum to win the Impact World Tag Team Championship for the first time. On the April 23 episode of Impact Wrestling, Santana and Ortiz defeated Veterans of War (Mayweather and Wilcox) in a tournament finals to win the GFW Tag Team Championship. On November 5 at Bound for Glory, they lost to Ohio Versus Everything (OVE), when as part of a double turn with Sami Callihan interfering on OVE's behalf, Jake Crist performing a low blow on Ortiz, and OVE attacking them after the match, thus turning LAX into faces in the process.

On the May 24, 2018 episode of Impact King became the newest member of LAX. After the group leader Konnan was attacked, and Homicide and Diamante went missing in action, King assumed leadership of the faction and guided Ortiz and Santana back to being tag team champions. In June, Konnan and Diamante returned, both showing suspicion about King's involvement with the group. On the July 5, 2018 episode of Impact, Konnan confronted King who admitted that it was he who had "taken out a hit" against Konnan to takeover the faction. King then attempted to get Ortiz and Santana to recognize him as the new head of the group but they rejected this and stood beside the original leader, Konnan. Then, former LAX members Hernandez and Homicide returned, entering the ring and attacking Konnan, Santana and Ortiz.[5] At Bound for Glory on October 14, Hernandez and Homicide lost to Ortiz and Santana in a Concrete Jungle Death match.

On January 12, 2019, The Lucha Bros (Pentagón Jr. and Rey Fénix) defeated Santana and Ortiz at the TV Tapings in Mexico to win the Impact World Tag Team Championships.[6] Santana and Ortiz would reclaim them at the Rebellion pay per view on April 28. They held the titles until July, when they lost them to The North (Ethan Page and Josh Alexander).

On July 8, it was revealed that Santana and Ortiz would soon be leaving Impact and had interest from WWE and All Elite Wrestling.[7] During August 9 tapings Santana and Ortiz were given a "send off" by the Impact locker room.[8] Santana confirmed the following day that he and Ortiz were in fact done appearing on Impact Wrestling.[9]

All Elite Wrestling (2019–2024)

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See also: Inner Circle and Proud & Powerful

On August 31, 2019, at All Out, Santana and Ortiz made their debut for All Elite Wrestling (AEW), attacking both Lucha Brothers (Pentagón Jr. and Fénix) and Nick Jackson after their tag team ladder match, establishing themselves as heels.[10] On October 2, the inaugural episode of Dynamite, they teamed with Chris Jericho in the main event and defeated The Elite (Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks).[11] Led by Jericho, they subsequently formed a new faction along with Sammy Guevara and Jake Hager called The Inner Circle.[12] On the November 18, 2020 episode of Dynamite, Konnan reunited with Santana and Ortiz during an Inner Circle party in Las Vegas.[13] In March 2021, the Inner Circle began feuding with The Pinnacle, thus turning Santana and Ortiz faces in the process.[14][15] On the February 9, 2022 episode of AEW Dynamite, the Inner Circle had a team meeting that ended with Sammy Guevara throwing his vest and walking out. It was later announced that Jericho and Hager would face Santana and Ortiz in a tag team match the following week, with it being billed as the Inner Circle Implodes match.[16] On the March 9, 2022 episode of Dynamite, the Inner Circle was disbanded after Jericho and Hager attacked Santana and Ortiz and formed an alliance with 2point0 and Daniel Garcia. On the June 29, 2022 at Blood And Guts, Santana and Ortiz competed in the main event, defeating the Jericho Appreciation Society.

During his absence, it was reported Santana and Ortiz had problems working together.[17][18] After the tag team returned following Santana's recovery from injury, Santana had his ring name changed to Mike Santana.[19] The team competed alongside the Blackpool Combat Club losing to Kingston, Penta El Zero M and Best Friends' Trent Beretta, Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy in a Stadium Stampede match at All In at Wembley Stadium on August 27. After the event, the team disbanded which led to a match on AEW Rampage on October 27, where Santana defeated Ortiz. In March 2024, Santana's profile was removed from AEW's official website, ending his almost five-year tenure with the company.[20]

Return to TNA (2024–present)

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On April 20, 2024, Santana made his return to TNA at Rebellion, defeating Steve Maclin.[21][22] On April 24, it was announced by TNA Wrestling that Santana had signed with the promotion.[23]

Championships and accomplishments

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Impact Wrestling champs, one a former Islander, throw out first pitch at S.I. Yankees game". Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Mike Draztik / Santana Profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  3. ^ "Santana profile".
  4. ^ "EYFBO/LAX Interview · The Indy Corner". www.theindycorner.com. Archived from the original on August 14, 2018.
  5. ^ "Homicide & Hernandez RETURN and Lay Waste to LAX! | IMPACT! Highlights July 5, 2018" – via www.youtube.com.
  6. ^ "BIG SPOILER FROM LAST NIGHT'S IMPACT WRESTLING TV TAPING | PWInsider.com". www.pwinsider.com.
  7. ^ "Daily Update: Thiago Santos, John Tatum, LAX". WON/F4W - WWE news, Pro Wrestling News, WWE Results, UFC News, UFC results. July 8, 2019.
  8. ^ "LAX Given Send Off By IMPACT Roster At TV Tapings In Mexico | Fightful Wrestling". www.fightful.com.
  9. ^ "LAX Thanks IMPACT Wrestling, Confirms They Have Wrestled Their Last Match For The Company | Fightful Wrestling". www.fightful.com.
  10. ^ "LAX Debuts At AEW All Out". Wrestling Inc. August 31, 2019.
  11. ^ "AEW Dynamite Results - Oct 2, 2019". Ringside News | Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers. October 2, 2019. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  12. ^ Chris Jericho reveals The Inner Circle, retrieved October 18, 2019
  13. ^ Gagnon, Joshua (November 18, 2020). "Konnan Appears During Inner Circle's Visit To Las Vegas On AEW Dynamite". Wrestling Inc. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  14. ^ Knight, Cain A. (March 10, 2021). "MJF's new horsemen lay waste to Jericho and the Inner Circle". Cageside Seats. SB Nation. Archived from the original on March 18, 2021. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
  15. ^ Casey, Connor (March 10, 2021). "AEW Dynamite: MJF Launches His Own Faction, Destroys The Inner Circle". Comicbook.com. Archived from the original on March 16, 2021. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
  16. ^ "Inner Circle Implosion, No DQ Bout Set for 2/16 AEW Dynamite". February 10, 2022.
  17. ^ Beltrán, William (July 1, 2022). "Santana podría tener problemas con Ortiz y marcharse de AEW". Superluchas.
  18. ^ "AEW tiene otro culebrón: Santana y Ortiz discuten en las redes sociales". solowrestling.mundodeportivo.com. September 9, 2023.
  19. ^ Savage, Amanda (August 24, 2023). "AEW Star Returns With New Name". WrestleTalk. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
  20. ^ Ravens, Andrew (March 4, 2024). "Mike Santana Departs From AEW". 411Mania. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  21. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (April 20, 2024). "Mike Santana Returns To TNA Wrestling At TNA Rebellion". Fightful.
  22. ^ Powell, Jason (April 20, 2024). "TNA Rebellion results (4/20): Powell's review of Moose vs. Nic Nemeth for the TNA World Championship, Jordynne Grace vs. Steph De Lander for the Knockouts Title, Josh Alexander vs. Hammerstone". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  23. ^ Carey, Ian (April 24, 2024). "Mike Santana signs contract with TNA Wrestling". f4wonline. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
  24. ^ "AAW Tag Team Championship". Cagematch. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
  25. ^ "CZW Tag Team Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  26. ^ "HOG Heavyweight Championship". Cagematch. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  27. ^ "RIC FLAIR APPEARS, AMAZING RED VS. ZACK SABRE JR. LAX IN INSANE FATAL FOUR WAY & MORE: COMPLETE HOUSE OF GLORY 'SEVEN' COVERAGE FROM NYC - PWInsider.com". www.pwinsider.com.
  28. ^ "Solie's Title Histories: TNA-IMPACT World Tag Team Championship History". Solie.org. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  29. ^ "GCW Tag Team Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  30. ^ "Santana Reacts To Becoming The First LAWE World Champion". May 22, 2022.
  31. ^ Grifol, Ignacio (January 14, 2022). "Pro Wrestling Illustrated anuncia los ganadores de sus PWI Awards 2021". Solowrestling.com. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  32. ^ "PWR Tag Team Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  33. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "WrestlePro Tag Team Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  34. ^ "WOW Tag Team Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  35. ^ "WWL World League Team Championship History".
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