There was a lot of chatter when Santana & Ortiz broke up. Many saw it as the sad self-destruction of an incredible tag team, and with good reason. We had no reason to believe that any of them would succeed in a singles capacity. Besides their final match between themselves, we never really were given a reason to believe they could cut it as singles guys. Now it’s almost a year later, and the view of one half of the former duo has changed completely. Mike Santana decided to cross the line and bet on himself, and I honestly couldn’t think of a better decision that he could’ve made. Santana’s current TNA run has been booked amazingly, and this article explains why I think so.
His Debut And The Subsequent Maclin/Rascalz Feuds
Mike Santana started his TNA run with a big win over Steve Maclin at Rebellion, making a great surprise return in the process. It was a great, intense match and a good introduction to what we will see from singles, Santana. Reflecting my argument is the Wrestling Republic’s own Archie Carter, who also thought the match was great, as he gave it 3.5 stars in his Rebellion review.
In the episode following his debut, we bear witness to a fun, albeit short, match against Myron Reed. This does well in serving the purpose of further solidifying Santana’s moveset (with his Spin The Block finisher being firmly established as his main move) while also helping branch the Rascalz into the Maclin feud after the match.
A month later, we are treated to a rematch between Mike Santana and Steve Maclin. While it was nothing stellar on the rematch, it did perfect in setting up for Santana and Maclin taking on the Rascalz at Against All Odds. This was further built with a good match between Santana and Wentz, which did exactly what it needed to do to build interest for the tag match.
And then, wrapping up the first two rivalries in Santana’s current TNA run, we were treated to the aforementioned tag match. Needless to say, because of the talent in it, this match was amazing. Fun, action-packed, and crazy. These are three words that perfectly describe how great that tag match ended up being. Definitely a highlight in the company for all four men when it’s said and done.
Joining In On The War Against The System
The next step in Mike Santana’s current TNA run ended up with him being the next person to join in on the current war against the System. This started when the System’s most recent addition, JDC, decided to screw Santana in his Slammiversary world title qualifying match. It turns out he was put up to this by Moose, as the Wrestling God worried about facing Santana at Slammiversary. This was great booking, as it was a noble way to have Santana lose, and continue to feel like a main event guy. This resulted in Santana having a great match (and win) against Jake Something at Slammiversary before joining in with the plethora of babyfaces that are currently against the System (with Hendry, The Hardy’s, and Nemeth being the other main pieces).
The highlight of him in the feud so far would be his match against Moose on the most recent iMPACT episode. It was Santana, the valiant babyface, who continued to survive after getting beaten down by the System beforehand, and Moose, the brutal heel, who only aimed to destroy the babyface further. It was a great match, with Santana putting up his best singles performance in the company so far, I recommend you check it out.
Other Titbits
One thing I’ve purposefully left out for it’s own section is how great his presentation has been. His gear is unique and really ensembles his character perfectly. Furthermore, Santana possesses one of the best entrances in the whole company. It’s simply him just entering through the crowd and then standing on a barricade in the midst of the crowd. Yet it still looks cool, and it still hypes them up every single time.
Overall, he’s wrestled good matches, he’s cut good promos, he’s got great presentation, and he’s been treated like a big deal, even when putting others over. That’s what I call perfectly booked.
Thanks for reading this article; I really appreciate it.
If you want to watch all of Santana’s current TNA run yourself, an easy way to achieve that is by watching through a playlist that TNA curated themselves on their YouTube channel that contains everything Mike Santana has done so far. You can achieve that by clicking HERE.
