Mike Santana Confirms Cruz Montana as New WWE NXT Ring Name

The speculation surrounding the newly arrived talent’s identity reached its resolution when the wrestler himself stepped forward. The performer appeared on WWE NXT to confront the reigning champion. Ahead of the show at the WWE Performance Center this week, Santana took to X (formerly Twitter) with a video to re-introduce himself.

Cruz Montana Confirms His New WWE Ring Name

Fans tuning into the July 21 edition of NXT watched as a Street Fight match took place between Tony D’Angelo and Naraku for the NXT Championship. Following this bout, the former TNA World Heavyweight Champion showed up and confronted D’Angelo. While commentary did not mention the star by name, digital records soon pointed to a distinct shift. It was revealed on X earlier in the day by various accounts that WWE had filed a trademark for “Cruz Montana.”

Rather than keeping audiences guessing, the athlete posted a video addressing the fanbase directly before the following week’s show. Santana stated the following in a video published to social media:

“Last week I made my official debut on NXT and set the wrestling world on fire, all without saying a thing. But my actions let everyone know exactly what my sights were set on. Tomorrow night, live, I’ll put words behind those actions. And for the first time, you get to hear what Cruz Montana has to say. I’ll see y’all there. Let’s get it.”

Mike Santana, via X (formerly Twitter)

AJ Styles Discusses Mike Santana’s NXT Debut and Producing the Main Event

Speaking on The Phenomenally Retro Podcast, AJ Styles talked about Santana coming to NXT. AJ Styles revealed that he quietly helped produce one of WWE NXT’s biggest matches of the summer — the NXT Championship Street Fight between Tony D’Angelo and Naraku. Even though Styles isn’t wrestling full-time anymore, he still works behind the scenes in WWE, mainly focusing on scouting talent and helping with WWE’s ID program. In the past, he has said he doesn’t want to become a full-time producer or join WWE’s creative team. However, Styles recently stepped into a producer’s role for the NXT Championship Street Fight and confirmed it was a great experience, helping plan the main event between Tony D’Angelo and Naraku that happened on the July 21 episode of NXT. He admitted that once the match started, he got so caught up watching it that he almost forgot he was supposed to be producing. Styles recalled the backstage interaction when Santana arrived:

“The thing is, Mike came out at the end of the match, where Tony is holding up the heavyweight championship. Mike comes to the back, I said, ‘What’s up bro? Good to see you. I hope you’re doing well. Where are we doing this? We’re doing this in TNA? Are we doing this here in NXT?’ He goes, ‘No dude, you don’t understand. I’m here now.’ I was like, ‘Oh wow. We got you.’ So it was pretty cool man. I’m looking forward to seeing what he’s going to do next.”

AJ Styles, via The Phenomenally Retro Podcast

Transitioning From TNA and AEW

WWE is reportedly interested in adding former AEW original Mike Santana to their roster. Santana left AEW a couple of years ago when his contract expired to rebuild his name. The tag team run ending with his longtime partner Ortiz caused Santana to start his singles career in TNA, and it worked to perfection when he became the TNA World Champion. However, it appears his TNA time ended as his contract came up. Wrestlevotes Radio on Fightful Select confirmed that there was interest from WWE in him, and a source noted that there was strong internal support from at least one member of the WWE main roster.

With his character relaunch now set in motion, Montana shifts from his prior work to his new path live on @WWENXT at 8PM.