Santana hasn’t appeared on AEW TV since last June, when he tore his ACL during the Blood and Guts match on Dynamite.
There were already concerns about his future, as he appeared to be counting down to the end of his AEW contract, which many assumed was coming to an end.
There was also the problem with Santana and Ortiz. Konnan discussed it on his podcast:
“It breaks my heart because I spent a lot of time with them and I’ve said before that they’re like my sons. I heard it almost got physical with Santana and Kingston over this. It’s not a good look, bro. I really hate seeing that these two guys who could have gone to WWE and really fu**ing blown up, that they separated. I can see Santana when his contract is up, leaving. Ortiz is very chill and laid back. Santana is more of a hot head. Ortiz’s was like, ‘Hey, they ain’t doing sh*t with us’, and Santana’s like, ‘They ain’t doing sh*t with us’, and he’s right. Ortiz is more like ‘We’re getting paid and are taken care of’, and he was comfortable in his role and Santana wants more.”
It’s unclear how things stand between Santana and Ortiz at the moment, but according to a recent report from Fightful Select, Santana is still a member of AEW. They also point out that he has been paid for the duration of his injury.
It’s also unclear when his contract will expire, but if it was due in September, the company could have added injury time to his contract.
