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Ex-AEW Star’s WWE Debut Match Made

By Lyle Kilbane • Published May 26, 2025 05:50 EDT
WWE logo over Mike Santana

Another former AEW star is set to make their WWE debut, but that doesn’t mean they’ve signed with the company.

WWE has welcomed a host of former AEW stars in recent years despite continuing to cut names from its roster at the same time. Lexis King, Shawn Spears, Ethan Page, Ricky Saints, Penta, Rey Fenix, Aleister Black, and Rusev have all had a fuss made of them in WWE immediately after making the jump from Tony Khan’s company.

Now, another former AEW star is set to make their WWE debut, but this one is coming courtesy of the sports entertainment giant’s partnership with TNA Wrestling.

Mike Santana Set For WWE Match

At NXT Battleground, disaster struck for TNA as NXT star Trick Williams won the TNA World Championship in somewhat controversial circumstances from Joe Hendry.

However, before that match took place, ex-AEW star Mike Santana was interviewed backstage, where he warned he’d be keeping a close eye on that TNA World Title match and coming after whoever walked away with the gold. The No Quarter Catch Crew then confronted Santana, with Charlie Dempsey expressing his disgust at the number of outsiders appearing on their show.

Tavion Heights took a more respectful tone as he asked for the opportunity to face Santana on the May 27 edition of NXT. Santana accepted the challenge, and the match was made.

Santana made his AEW debut at All Out in 2019 alongside his long-time tag team partner Ortiz. The two men spent most of their time in the company as part of Chris Jericho’s Inner Circle. That group exploded in 2022 before Santana was put out of action with a serious knee injury. Upon his return, it had become clear that issues had developed between Santana and Ortiz, bringing their time as a team to an end.

Santana officially left AEW in March 2024 before continuing his career in TNA.