Santana And Ortiz Talk Cash Wheeler Suffering Gruesome Injury On AEW Dynamite

On a recent episode of the AEW Unrestricted podcast, Aubrey Edwards and Tony Schiavone sat down with Santana and Ortiz of the Inner Circle and Proud N' Powerful. One of Santana and Ortiz's breakout moments as a tag team in AEW was the Dynamite Street Fight against Chuck Taylor and Trent of Best Friends. The two talked about the reaction the match, and Santana revealed what he said to Best Friends as they were preparing the match.

"We knew, when it was said and done, it was something special just because Tony Khan's reaction, just him coming out. He was so ecstatic," Ortiz revealed. "Everybody else was looking at us, and they were like, 'You don't understand what what just happened?' And we're still coming down off the match, and we're in the zone, so it didn't really fully registered, but then luckily, the truck got us.

"We went back and watched. They had it right away. We sat down and watched it. We were lucky enough to watch it right after it was done, and we were like, 'Oh, wow.' We were anticipating once it aired and then all the validation that we got from it once it aired it was insane. It was awesome. Definitely one of our crowning achievements.

"It's crazy because when we were putting the match together and talking with best Friends, I remember we were in the locker room, and we're putting some ideas together," Santana recalled. "And I stopped in the middle of us talking, and I go, 'Guys, this has to be real. I'm coming at you guys. I'm coming at you full force.

"But he was deadpan," Ortiz noted. "Dead serious.

"I'm like, 'You're gonna punch me, and we're gonna f*cking go at you,' and I think that's what this this match needed," Santana said. "It was so funny seeing their reactions. They're like, 'So we're gonna have to f*cking fight?' I was already in the zone. I was getting myself hyped up. I was like, 'We're gonna f*cking go at it. We're gonna go. Whatever happens happens. We'll say sorry later, but let's let's get it.

"I wish I could have had a video of their faces," Ortiz admitted. It was pretty funny.

"They're such nice guys too. They didn't deserve that."

Santana and Ortiz's last big match was against FTR on Dynamite at Fight for the Fallen. During the match, Cash Wheeler suffered a gruesome arm injury, and Proud N' Powerful recalled that moment and their personal reactions.

"It was definitely a good one. It was one that we put a lot into putting together," Santana stated. "Working with those guys, it was a pleasure, and we had great chemistry and unfortunately, things happened. You got to do what you got to do and roll with the punches and just glad everything is good and let's let's keep it going. I had no idea what was going on. I just heard someone yelling 'f*ck' a million times.

"It was a gnarly situation because I was on the top rope with Dax, and I look over and all I see is, it looked like a water fountain," Ortiz described. "Blood just came shooting out of Cash's arm, and he just grabbed it and ran straight the doctor. We were freaking out a little bit. We were kind of like, alright, what are we gonna do? What are we gonna do? And we got to it, and we did the we could with the situation. And at that point, we just wanted to end the match, and obviously, we didn't know how badly injured he was.

"We're always taught to, for me, day one of pro wrestling to protect your opponent and protect yourself," Santana added. "It was one of those things where I look back at it, and I was like, damn, what could I have done to avoid that situation? What could I have done to maybe help or whatever. It was one of those situations. It was a freak accident, and thankfully, he's good and just keep it going.

"And we're gonna run it back," Ortiz noted.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit AEW Unrestricted with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.