Former WWE Star Santos Escobar Reflects On 'Heartbreaking' Release

In 2025, it looked as though Santos Escobar would be letting his WWE contract expire until a last-second offer from the company led to him re-signing. By 2026, after wrestling twice in AAA, he suffered an injury and was released by WWE following WrestleMania 42. In his first interview since parting ways with WWE, Escobar looked back at his tenure with the promotion and commented on his sudden release. 

"It was a very heartbreaking situation for me personally, 'cause I was injured and I think [the release] was maybe six or seven days after my second surgery, so it was even more heartbreaking," he said during an interview on "TMZ's Inside The Ring." Escobar admitted that he wasn't ready for the release and doesn't think anyone can ever be, but he feels better after recovering from his injury over the past few months and finding his character again.

"I just wrapped up a television project in Mexico on a major streaming service, and this happened during this three months," he added. Escobar explained that being released helped him take on his new project, which allowed him to artistically express himself in ways he never has before. "Everything I do, I put my everything on it, and this time — this is pretty much what happened, you know? The injury put me in a situation where I had to dig deep, and work hard, and evaluate everything in my life."

Escobar was then asked whether he expected his release, to which he explained that it came out of left field for him. "I think, anywhere you work, there's boxes that you need to check. And these boxes will assure that you're necessary for that place to thrive," he explained, opining that he believes he worked extensively to check all those boxes for WWE. He credited his time in NXT for helping him put some finishing touches on how to present himself as a star in WWE. 

Although he was told by many people that he would never be out of a job within WWE, that wound up being false, and Escobar concluded that life can take unexpected turns. Still, with hindsight, he notes that the day of his release was one of the worst days of his career. Escobar was told not to visit his WWE-appointed physical therapist, so he sought one out himself. 

"While I'm doing my [physical] therapy, I get the call," he claimed, recalling how he was promised in 2025 by Nick Khan personally that things would be better. "I had no reason to believe this was going to end anytime soon. I hadn't even started my run!"

"Optics matter, and in this case, it was like: okay, let's turn the page," he added, stating that he felt like Mickie James when she was released from WWE in 2021.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "TMZ's Inside The Ring," and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.