Mike Santana recently spoke with Chris Van Vliet on the “Insight” podcast to discuss a myriad of topics, including his departure from All Elite Wrestling, his fallout with Ortiz, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On the fallout with Ortiz: “Well, we were together for 10 years, I think. And when you’re together with someone that long, it’s like a married couple. Right? There’s good, there’s bad. And I think, honestly, for the most part, it was like, I think we just grew apart over time. And also our visions for the tag team and its future and, its success, we weren’t on the same page when it came to a lot of those things. And it is what it is everybody has their thoughts. Everybody goes about things differently. But yeah, like I told you, I’m a go-getter. I like to create opportunities for myself, I like, I’m more than willing to fight for our spot. But also, I’m not going to be the only one.”
On whether there is still heat: “I wouldn’t say [so]. I mean, for me, I don’t hold any [grudges]. I told him after the match ‘Yo, I hope the best for you, hope you do well and there is no hard feelings. I hold no hate no grudge, nothing. I’m in a different place in my life in general. And I’m good. I’m chillin’.”
Nigel McGuinness retired from in-ring competition in 2011 due to medical complications. He has since switched over to commentary where he was a commentator in WWE before signing with AEW in 2023.
In a recent interview with “Wrestling Weekly,” Nigel discussed his rivalry with Bryan Danielson and revealed that he was recently in the ring. He said,
“All the time that I was in WWE, how difficult it was for me, and I think a lot of the… I don’t want to say the jealousy and the bitterness, but those sort of emotions that certainly existed between me and Bryan and the success that he’s had. When I was in WWE, seeing so many of my peers coming up and having that level of success, and that level of fame and fortune was very difficult for me, certainly, to sort of accept. Especially when I could still wrestle today. I got in the ring last week and just felt perfectly ok. Sometimes, people say it’s a lot easier if you choose yourself to quit and I don’t think that it’s the case,” he said. “Given my history in terms of concussions and various other things, I do watch a lot of matches and go, ‘couldn’t do that anymore.’”
And finally, you can check out the updated lineup for Wednesday night’s episode of AEW Dynamite below:
AEW World Tag Team Championship Quarterfinal Match:
Best Friends vs. Undisputed Kingdom
TBS Championship #1 Contender’s Match:
Kris Statlander vs. Skye Blue vs. Anna Jay vs. Willow Nightingale
Will Ospreay vs. Katsuyori Shibata
Swerve Strickland vs. Konosuke Takeshita
TOMORROW, 3/27@centrevideotron Quebec City
Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite
TBS, tomorrow, 8pm ET/7pm CTAEW World Tag Team Title
Tournament Quarterfinal@trentylocks/@orangecassidy
vs@MattTaven/@RealMikeBennettOC/Trent chase the big one vs bitter rivals Bennett/Taven TOMORROW! pic.twitter.com/wfFWx3EePh
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) March 27, 2024
