Mike Santana has returned to TNA Wrestling.

Introduced by on-screen TNA authority figure Santino Marella, Santana entered through the audience, a homage to the signature entrance of his LAX days, and bested Steve Maclin in an impromptu contest. The match came around after Maclin, who claimed that every demand had been met for his proposed new TNA deal, made one final demand; a match at that moment. Mike Santana would emerge victorious in the bout, putting the former World Champion away by pinfall.

Santana, 33, had been linked with a TNA return since the end of March, as Fightful Select reported that he was expected back in the company. Dave Meltzer followed this up in the April 19-issued Wrestling Observer Newsletter, indicating that he was “in talks” to return to TNA on a per-appearance deal as soon as Rebellion. Speculation on his return was furthered when he was pulled from a scheduled appearance at a Revolution Pro Wrestling event in England.

In TNA, Mike Santana spent two years teaming with Ortiz in The Latin American Xchange, winning the World Tag Team Championships four times, which also involved unifying the GFW doubles titles into the TNA straps. They left TNA in XXX to sign with All Elite Wrestling, debuting at the inaugural All Out pay-per-view.

Why Did Mike Santana Leave AEW?

Mike Santana was reported by Fightful Select as having departed AEW on March 4, though he hadn’t been a featured fighter for well over a year. Legitimate heat between him and Ortiz led to both being removed from television until the pre-All In 2023 Dynamite, while a No Disqualifications match between the two aired in October.

Speaking to Chris Van Vliet, Santana detailed that his decision to leave AEW came “well before” his 2022 injury:

“Like I was telling you, my decision to leave AEW came well before my injury. 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, and I was just burnt out. My contract was coming up in September, I believe. And I had already made the decision that I’m not going to re-sign, and I just needed to take a break and deal with the things that I needed to deal with. And yeah, so then the injury happened. So, a lot of that was going on during that time.”

Mike Santana’s TNA return makes him the third full-time AEW-to-TNA defection, following Frankie Kazarian and Alan Angels.