.jpg) Santana in July 2025 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Mark Sanchez[2] (1991-02-04)February 4, 1991 (age 35) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Mike Draztik Mike Santana Santana[1] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) |
| Billed weight | 230 lb (104 kg) |
| Billed from | "Bronx, New York" |
| Trained by | Magic |
| Debut | November 2007 |
Mark Sanchez (born February 4, 1991),[3] known by thering nameMike Santana or simplySantana, is an Americanprofessional wrestler. He is signed toTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he is theTNA World Champion in his second reign. He also makes appearances for partner promotionWWE on theirNXTbrand.
In 2012, Sanchez, then known asMike Draztik, formed a tag team withAngel Ortiz, known asEYFBO[4] and worked on the American independent scene for several years. They won titles such as theAAW Tag Team Championship,CZW World Tag Team Championship and theHOG Tag Team Championship. In 2017, Draztik and Ortiz were hired by TNA, then known as Impact Wrestling, and changed their names to Santana and Ortiz respectively. They joinedKonnan as the members of theLatin American Xchange (LAX) and won theImpact World Tag Team Championshipfour 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 wonGFW 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 createdAll Elite Wrestling, where they joinedChris Jericho's stableThe Inner Circle. After Jericho andJake Hager turned on them, Santana and Ortiz teamed up withEddie Kingston. Santana left AEW in 2024 and returned to TNA.
Sanchez debuted in 2007. He spent the first years of his career primarily wrestling in New York andNew Jersey. In 2012, Sanchez, then known as Mike Draztik, formed a tag team withAngel Ortiz, known asEYFBO[4] and worked on the American independent scene for several years. They won titles such as theAAW Tag Team Championship,CZW World Tag Team Championship and theHOG Tag Team Championship.
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On the March 16, 2017 episode ofImpact Wrestling, Sanchez, under the ring name Santana, made his debut as a member of theLatin American Xchange (LAX), alongside Ortiz. They became part of LAX withHomicide,Diamante, and managerKonnan, where attackedDecay,Laredo Kid,Garza Jr., andReno Scum inserting themselves in theImpact World Tag Team Championship picture and winning them the following week, establishing themselves asheels in the process. On the March 30 episode ofImpact, 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 ofImpact Wrestling, Santana and Ortiz defeated Veterans of War (Mayweather andWilcox) in a tournament finals to win theGFW Tag Team Championship. On November 5 atBound for Glory, they lost toOhio Versus Everything (OVE), when as part of a double turn withSami Callihan interfering on OVE's behalf,Jake Crist performing a low blow on Ortiz, and OVE attacking them after the match, thus turning LAX intofaces in the process.
On the May 24, 2018 episode ofImpactKing became the newest member of LAX. After the group leaderKonnan was attacked, andHomicide andDiamante went missing in action, King assumed leadership of the faction and guided Ortiz and Santana back to beingtag team champions. In June, Konnan and Diamante returned, both showing suspicion about King's involvement with the group. On the July 5, 2018 episode ofImpact, 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 membersHernandez and Homicide returned, entering the ring and attacking Konnan, Santana and Ortiz.[5] AtBound for Glory on October 14, Hernandez and Homicide lost to Ortiz and Santana in aConcrete Jungle Death match.
On January 12, 2019,The Lucha Bros (Pentagón Jr. andRey 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 theRebellion pay per view on April 28. They held the titles until July, when they lost them toThe North (Ethan Page andJosh Alexander).
On July 8, it was revealed that Santana and Ortiz would soon be leaving Impact and had interest fromWWE andAll 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]
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On August 31, 2019, atAll Out, Santana and Ortiz made their debut forAll Elite Wrestling (AEW), attacking bothLucha Brothers (Pentagón Jr. andFénix) andNick Jackson after their tag team ladder match, establishing themselves as heels.[10] On October 2, the inaugural episode ofDynamite, they teamed withChris Jericho in the main event and defeatedThe Elite (Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks).[11] Led by Jericho, they subsequently formed a new faction along withSammy Guevara andJake Hager calledThe Inner Circle.[12] On the November 18, 2020 episode ofDynamite, Konnan reunited with Santana and Ortiz during an Inner Circle party in Las Vegas.[13] In March 2021, the Inner Circle began feuding withThe Pinnacle, thus turning Santana and Ortiz faces in the process.[14][15]
On the February 9, 2022 episode ofAEW 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 theInner Circle Implodes match.[16] On the March 9, 2022 episode ofDynamite, the Inner Circle was disbanded after Jericho and Hager attacked Santana and Ortiz and formed an alliance with2point0 andDaniel Garcia. On the June 29, 2022 atBlood And Guts, Santana and Ortiz competed in the main event, defeating theJericho Appreciation Society.
During his absence[clarification needed], 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 toMike Santana.[19] The team competed alongside theBlackpool Combat Club losing to Kingston,Penta El Zero M andBest Friends'Trent Beretta,Chuck Taylor andOrange Cassidy in aStadium Stampede match atAll In atWembley Stadium on August 27. After the event, the team disbanded which led to a match onAEW Rampage on October 27, where Santana defeated Ortiz. After the match, Santana requested and was granted his release from AEW in March 2024, ending his almost five-year tenure with the company.[20][21]
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On April 20, 2024, Santana made his return to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (formerly known as Impact Wrestling) atRebellion, defeatingSteve Maclin.[22][23] On April 24, it was announced by TNA that Santana had signed with the promotion.[24] In June, Santana began a feud withThe System, after they cost Santana a chance to qualify for theTNA World Championship match atSlammiversary. At Slammiversary, Santana defeatedJake Something.[25] Following Slammiversary, Santana focused fully on The System and get revenge for the attacks on him. On the August 15 episode ofTNA Impact!, Santana lost toMoose.[26] AtEmergence, Santana teamed withThe Hardys andJoe Hendry to face The System in an eight-man tag team match, in a losing effort.[27] On the September 19 episode of Impact!, Santana defeatedJDC in a Texas Death Match. Following the match, Moose attacked Santana. This led to a rematch between the two atBound for Glory. At the event, Santana defeated Moose to end the feud.[28] AtTurning Point, Santana defeatedFrankie Kazarian.[29] AtFinal Resolution, Santana competed in a four-way match to determine the number-one contender for the TNA World Championship, which involved Joe Hendry,Steve Maclin, andJosh Alexander. However, Hendry won the match.[30]
Following the match, Santana began a feud with Josh Alexander, taking Alexander'sheadgear. After defeating the Northern Armory in a Gauntlet match and later getting attacked by the group, Santana defeated Alexander in an"I quit" match atGenesis to end the feud. Following the match, the two men shook hands and Alexander quit TNA.[31]
After Genesis, Santana entered a feud withMustafa Ali. In the build-up, Ali taunted Santana's past of being a drug addict and crashed one of his counselling sessions. On March 14 atSacrifice, Santana was defeated by Ali.[32] Due to Ali cheating at Sacrifice, Santino Marella made a rematch for the following episode of Impact!, where Santana defeated Ali by countout. AtRebellion, Santana defeated Ali in a Falls Count Anywhere match to end the feud.[33] On July 20 atSlammiversary, Santana failed to win the TNA World Championship fromTrick Williams in athree-way match, also involvingJoe Hendry.[34]
On October 12, 2025, atBound for Glory, Santana defeatedTrick Williams to win theTNA World Championship for the first time and his first singles world championship in a major promotion.[35]
On November 13, 2025, Santana lost the TNA World Championship toFrankie Kazarian after getting into a brawl with NXT talent and Kazarian was the winner ofThe Call Your Shot Gauntlet Match at Bound For Glory.[36]
On January 15, 2026 onThursday Night Impact!'s AMC debut, Santana defeatedFrankie Kazarian to win the TNA World Championship for the second time. AtGenesis, Santana defeated Kazarian to retain the title.
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Santana made hisWWE debut on May 25, 2025, on thedevelopmental brandNXT atBattleground in a backstage segment, where he was confronted byNo Quarter Catch Crew (Charlie Dempsey andTavion Heights).[37] Two days later onNXT, Santana defeated Heights in his WWE in-ring debut. He would go on to challengeTrick Williams for the TNA World Championship, which Williams had defeated Joe Hendry for at Battleground.[38] On the June 3 episode ofNXT, Santana failed to win the title from Williams after interference fromFirst Class (AJ Francis andKC Navarro).[39] On the September 23 episode ofNXT, Santana, along with other wrestlers of the TNA roster, took part in a major storyline, where they invaded NXT and brawled with various wrestlers on the NXT roster.[40]
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