TNA Wrestling is showing support for Mike Santana following his jump to WWE.
Mike Santana made his official WWE NXT debut on Tuesday night, appearing after Tony D’Angelo retained the NXT Championship against Naraku in a Street Fight.
The former TNA World Champion emerged as D’Angelo’s next apparent challenger, though WWE notably did not identify him by name on the broadcast despite his previous appearances during the NXT-TNA partnership.
While that omission has sparked speculation that Santana could receive a new ring name in WWE, his departure from TNA appears to have come without any hard feelings.
Following Tuesday’s NXT episode, TNA took to social media to publicly congratulate its former World Champion, writing: “Congratulations to Mike Santana on his monumental debut on last night’s WWE NXT!”
Santana enjoyed a standout run in TNA, capturing the TNA World Championship twice and cementing himself as a top singles star after first making his name as one half of a successful tag team. He also became one of the promotion’s centerpiece performers during TNA’s move to AMC.
As for why WWE avoided mentioning Santana by name, it’s often a sign the company is still working through the trademark process.
Santana, whose real name is Mark Sanchez, filed for the “Mike Santana” trademark earlier this year and currently holds the rights to use the name for professional wrestling purposes.
Congratulations to @Santana_Proud on his monumental debut on last night's @WWENXT! pic.twitter.com/nxNRr1Y4Ic
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) July 22, 2026
