Santana AEW In-Ring Return Update

When "AEW Dynamite" launched in October 2019, one of the most-pushed acts in the newly-formed company was the tag team of Santana and Ortiz, sometimes known as Proud 'n' Powerful, who were quickly linked with Chris Jericho as part of the Inner Circle. Last year, when the Blackpool Combat Club and friends vs. Jericho Appreciation Society feud was peaking after Jericho turned on Santana and Ortiz to form the new group, Santana suffered a knee injury during a Blood and Guts match, which required surgery and a long recovery.

Santana has largely been quiet since then, but according to the new Wrestling Observer Newsletter, he should be back in action soon after roughly a year off. Specifically, WON states "Santana is going to be ready to return soon," but with the caveat that it's unclear how he'd fit in the company right now in light of his falling out with Ortiz, which their mentor, Konnan, confirmed last year after months of rumors.

As Konnan would explain a few months later, as they had been used less prominently in AEW and moved out of the tag team title picture, Santana grew increasingly frustrated, while Ortiz was happy to have the stable paycheck, and this caused a rift. In the months leading up to the injury, they had teamed with decreasing frequency, while Santana was taking independent bookings as a singles wrestler. He had also been counting the days to the expiration of his AEW contract on Twitter, although those tweets have since been deleted.