Tag: proud and powerful

AEW’s Santana teases return with new video

Posted on by Ian Carey

Santana posted a new video on Friday amidst reports he is nearing a return from injury. 

The 32-year-old has been out of action since suffering a knee injury during the Blood & Guts match on June 29, 2022. Moments after entering the cage, Santana attempted a uranage on Daniel Garcia but landed awkwardly on his leg. He would eventually be helped to the back. Tony Khan revealed the following week that Santana was looking at a long recovery time. 

Last week, Santana posted the following to Twitter:

Today, he posted the below video featuring him commuting to a high school gymnasium. 

Santana had posted a similar video to Twitter on April 21 as well. 

Last week, our own Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Santana is nearing a return. He also mentioned the rumored falling out with Santana’s LAX teammate, Ortiz, who is not featured in any of the above videos.  

Meltzer wrote:

Santana is going to be ready to return soon. Not sure where he’ll fit in since he and Ortiz had a falling out. They are better off as a team than singles and Ortiz hasn’t done much since Santana was gone. They were one of the better teams in the company.

Ortiz had been teaming with Eddie Kingston early in 2023 but has been used sparingly since Kingston was moved to the ROH roster. He hasn’t wrestled since dropping a match to Brian Cage on the ROH TV tapings held on April 5. Prior to that, he hadn’t wrestled since the Face of the Revolution Ladder match on March 1. 

Santana and Ortiz began teaming with each other in 2012. They would eventually join Impact Wrestling and become members of the new LAX in 2017. They signed with AEW in 2019 and quickly joined Chris Jericho’s Inner Circle faction. Together they are four-time Impact tag champions, three-time HOG tag champions, and one-time CZW champions. 

Two tag matches signed for next week’s AEW Dynamite

Posted on by Josh Nason

Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite set up two tag team matches for next week including a street fight between two of the company’s top teams.

In Garland, TX, the Young Bucks will face Proud and Powerful (Santana and Ortiz) in a street fight, first announced via AEW’s Twitter account. The two teams were part of a six-man tag to open Wednesday’s show as the Bucks and Dustin Rhodes defeated Santana, Ortiz, and Sammy Guevara. 

This will be a rematch of their Full Gear clash which Santana and Ortiz won.

Also set for Garland is Cody and QT Marshall vs. The Butcher & The Blade, making their official AEW in-ring debut. During a promo segment, Cody addressed last week’s attack by Andy Williams and Pepper Parks and said if they wanted an opportunity against him, they could pick his partner. The long-time indie team didn’t appear on the show outside a brief vignette with The Bunny.