This Week in Wrestling: Week 29 of 2026

Brian Damage

This Week in Wrestling: Week 29 of 2026

This past Tuesday on NXT, Mike Santana appeared through the crowd and stared down the NXT champion Tony D’Angelo. Of course, Santana had just lost the TNA world title a couple of weeks prior. After dropping the TNA title, it was reported that Santana’s TNA contract was expiring and would be a free agent. It was always believed that he would end up in WWE somehow and sure enough there he was this week on NXT television.

For Santana, he was a guy that was a part of a great tag team with Ortiz that were one of the original signees in AEW. Before that, they had a great amount of success in TNA and other places. For a variety of reasons, Santana wasn’t happy with his place in AEW. He didn’t want to be considered a tag team wrestler and wanted more TV time. He eventually left his cushy paycheck in AEW and ventured out on his own.

He became a singles star that returned to TNA wrestling and almost immediately shot up to main event status. After a few attempts, Santana finally snagged the TNA world title and became the face of the company as the promotion moved to its new TV home at AMC. Now, after his work was done in TNA, Santana is signed to WWE and debuted on NXT. Some might not appreciate his journey to WWE, but I certainly do. 

Here was a guy who believed he had something special to offer and bet on himself. That allowed him to walk away from AEW and go elsewhere to rebuild himself as a singles wrestler. I don’t know if he will be a success in WWE or not, but I appreciate that he worked hard to get to this point in his career. That should be inspirational to any wrestler out there that is not happy with their current status whether it be in AEW, WWE, TNA or anywhere else.

Believe in yourself, work hard at your craft and be the wrestler you want to be. That can easily apply to anyone in everyday life as well. I see Sammy Guevara and his wife Tay Melo unhappy in AEW and want to leave. Guevara was once considered a pillar of AEW. Now he is looking to leave, but some reports have that Tony Khan isn’t letting him and his wife walk away. Why? Let them go. If they make it as stars someplace else, so be it. AEW’s roster is completely STACKED with talent. I’ll never understand when a wrestler is unhappy wherever they are and request to leave and are told no. That boggles my mind.

One promoter’s trash can be another promoter’s treasure or vice versa. If Guevera believes he can be a bigger star someplace else. Let them succeed or fail on their own. Don’t hold him or anyone else hostage. I want to see more Mike Santana stories out there.

Photo Gallery

Chris Jericho and his twin daughters

Torrie Wilson

Celeste Bonin fka Kaitlyn

Karissa Rivera fka Elektra Lopez

CJ Perry

Trish Stratus

Liv Morgan

Lola Vice

Catalina White (Jake Hager’s ex wife)

Video Gallery

Roddy Piper, Paul Orndorff and Jesse Ventura star in a soup commercial circa 1986!