Mike Santana opens up about his personal struggles while away from the ring.
Santana suffered an injury in the 2022 Blood and Guts match. The former IMPACT World Tag Team Champion missed over a year of action before returning at AEW All In. But while he was away, Santana dealt with a lot of personal issues that seemingly bothered him for years.
“Yeah, it was a lot of personal stuff going on in my life that I was just dealing with. I was forced to deal with,” Santana said in a recent interview with Zack Heydorn of SEScoops. “There was just a lot of work that had to be done on myself before I could come back and put myself back in front of people again. I wasn’t happy with the person that I grew into in the last three years, so I had to go away and do the work and better that guy up.”
I’m thankful, I’m blessed
Santana added, “But I’m thankful, I’m blessed. God gave me another chance and I’m here to make the most of it and seize whatever opportunities are thrown my way. I think the main thing is just being happy. Being happy is everything. If you’re not happy with whatever you’re doing, there’s no point. Today, I guess I got to a point where I don’t allow anything outside of myself to determine my happiness or how content I am. I control that shit to the fullest.
“There’s a lot of things that I’ll get into eventually later down the line that went out while I was out, but for right now, I’m thankful and blessed to even be alive,” Santana concluded.
For the first time in years, Santana is moving forward as a singles competitor in AEW. He recently defeated Bronson at AEW Rampage: Grand Slam.
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If you use any quotes from this article, please credit SEScoops with a h/t to WrestleZone for the transcription.
