When the IMPACT Wrestling contracts of Santana & Ortiz expired in August, they instantly became the hottest free agents on the market. Santana & Ortiz boosted their name value in IMPACT as LAX, headlining pay-per-view events and enjoying multiple reigns at IMPACT Tag Team Champions.
The duo had options when they became free agents as IMPACT reportedly tried to do everything they could to keep them, and AEW and WWE had strong interest in the two. Ultimately, they decided to join AEW, making their debut at AEW All Out.
Speaking to Chris Van Vliet, Proud N Powerful revealed that WWE didn't make their decision easy in the courting process.
"We were about to turn down WWE. We sat down and didn't want to burn a bridge. We never want to burn a bridge anywhere because that's not how we do business. [Santana] had this whole spiel, 'This is what we're gonna say so we don't burn a bridge.' We go, we get cut off, and they're like, 'Listen, really think about your decision.' We stop, hang up the phone, and are about to turn them down but it's like 'Damn, they're really making this hard for us,'" said Ortiz.
Santana then revealed WWE essentially offered them a blank check, saying, "Pretty much they were like, 'Write your own ticket and we'll make it happen.'" Santana also noted that WWE said they didn't even have to move to Orlando, saying the company would accommodate them remaining in New York despite working for NXT.
"Before [AEW] was a thing, we were already in talks with [WWE]. We were either gonna stay in IMPACT, we might go to WWE or maybe Ring of Honor," said Ortiz. "In our head, we made a good amount of noise in IMPACT, but I feel like we needed to bring up our name a little more. We can go to WWE and cash it in now, but I feel like maybe we bring up our name value more and be more wanted by them. They were interested enough to offer us something and we had people there pulling for us to bring us in. But I feel like we would have got lost in the shuffle. When we first got the offer, it was like, 'We're not going to get into a bidding war with anyone.' Then it was ultimately, 'Alright, what do you want?' It was only because of AEW."
While Santana & Ortiz had a tough decision in front of them, they went with AEW because they wanted to be part of wrestling history.
"Honestly, the ultimate decision was, do we want to be apart of something that's already establish or do we want to be apart of something new and make history," said Ortiz. "No matter what happens with AEW, we will always be apart of the first ever main event on the first ever television of AEW. Do we want to be apart of history or fade into black? Best case scenario, we're going to be small fish in an ocean. There's so many people [in WWE], it was gonna be an uphill battle. Not saying we wouldn't be able to do it, but we could be apart of history and change. It's changing wrestling for the better. No matter what happens with [AEW], it's changing wrestling for the better."
The duo also revealed that being dads was a big part of their decision as well. Had they made it to Raw or SmackDown after initially starting with NXT, they would be spending more time on the road due to WWE's live event schedule. AEW's schedule, which is one show a week on most weeks, allows them to spend more time with their children.
Santana & Ortiz made an immediate impact in AEW, taking out the Young Bucks at AEW All Out. They are scheduled to face The Young Bucks on Wednesday's AEW Dynamite in a Texas Street Fight.
If you use any of the quotes above, please give a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.
