The early months of AEW Dynamite featured a heavy dose of The Inner Circle, Chris Jericho’s group that formed on the premiere episode of Dynamite.
The group consisted of Jericho, Sammy Guevara, Jake Hager, Ortiz, and Mike Santana.
Though Santana and Ortiz entered AEW as a tag team, Santana got a chance to shine on his own in February 2020 when he had a mini-feud with Jon Moxley, who was chasing the AEW World Title.
As part of the feud, Santana had a sit down interview with Jim Ross, where he let out raw emotion discussing his struggles and recently losing his father.
Speaking to Jeremy Lambert and Joel Pearl on In The Weeds, Santana reflected on his segment with JR and match with Moxley.
"That happened right after my dad passed away. We were in Jacksonville, my dad passed away, I found out New Year's Day. I was in Jacksonville get ready to do a show, I get a call, I had to rush back home. I took two weeks off and came back, which I think still, to this day, was the worst thing I could have done. That sit down, it affected me so deeply, losing my dad, because we were so close. That sit down was real as hell. I remember JR telling me, I was kind of nervous because I was still very emotional at that time and my biggest worry was not being able to keep it together, emotionally. JR comes to me and is like, 'Let's just talk, no character stuff, just talk. We're going to have a conversation. That's it. Pretend like the cameras aren't there.' He did a great job of just relaxing me. I look back on it now, and that pain was there, and it came out. In the best way possible. I was able to...there is a saying I learned while I was out, 'Pain equals paint.' Sometimes your greatest pain will give you your greatest art. That was an example of one of those moments. It was very special. Just to sit down with JR in general. All the greats have done it. They've all sat down with him and had interviews and moments that have put them on a whole different playing field. That's another thing I was thinking about. 'Take advantage of that moment, make the best of it.' Working with Moxley was great. We spoke and he knew everything going on and we were in that storyline with Inner Circle and him. It was all good stuff. It was great working with him and I'd love to work with him again," he said.
Moxley and Santana would meet in a singles match on the February 12, 2020 episode of AEW Dynamite.
Santana is back on his own, returning from an injury that kept him out for a year and breaking away from Ortiz.
Fans can find Sananta’s comments regarding his split from Ortiz by clicking here.
Watch the full interview with Santana in the video above.
