When Santana and Ortiz split up, there was a lot of talk. Many saw it as the sad self-destruction of an incredible tag team, and for good reason. We had no reason to believe either of them would succeed as singles competitors. Aside from their last bout with each other, we never really had any reason to believe they could make it as singles competitors. Now, nearly a year has passed, and the view of one half of the former duo has completely changed. Mike Santana decided to cross the line and bet on himself, and I honestly couldn’t think of a better decision he could have made. Santana’s current TNA run is incredibly well-booked, and this article explains why I think so.

His debut and the subsequent feuds between Maclin and Rascalz

Mike Santana started his TNA run with a big win over Steve Maclin at Rebellion, pulling off a huge upset in the process. It was a great, intense match and a good introduction to what we’ll see from the singles, Santana. My opinion is echoed by Archie Carter of Wrestling Republic, who also loved the match and gave it 3.5 stars in his Rebellion review.

In the episode following his debut, we witness an entertaining, albeit short, match against Myron Reed. This serves to further solidify Santana’s moveset (with his Spin The Block finisher firmly established as his main move) and also helps the Rascalz get into the Maclin feud after the match.

A month later, we are treated to a rematch between Mike Santana and Steve Maclin. While the rematch was nothing special, it was the perfect set-up for Santana and Maclin’s match against the Rascalz at Against All Odds. This was further enhanced by a good match between Santana and Wentz that did exactly what it needed to do to build interest for the tag match.

And then, to conclude the first two rivalries in Santana’s current TNA run, we were treated to the aforementioned tag match. Needless to say, this match was amazing because of the talent in it. Entertaining, action-packed, and crazy. Those are three words that perfectly describe how great this tag match ended up being. Ultimately, definitely a highlight in the company of all four men.

Join the war against the system

The next step in Mike Santana’s current TNA run ended with him being the next to join the current war against the system. This started when the system’s latest addition, JDC, decided to stun Santana in his qualifying match for the world title at Slammiversary. It turns out he was instigated by Moose to do this as the Wrestling God was afraid to face Santana at Slammiversary. This was great booking as it was a classy way to let Santana lose and still feel like a main event fighter. This led to Santana having a great match (and win) against Jake Something at Slammiversary before joining the multitude of babyfaces currently against the system (with Hendry, The Hardy’s and Nemeth being the other main event mates).

His highlight of the feud so far was his match against Moose on the last episode of iMPACT. It was Santana, the brave babyface who continued to survive after being beaten down by the system, and Moose, the brutal heel who was only out to destroy the babyface even more. It was a great match that saw Santana deliver his best singles performance in the group yet. I recommend checking it out.

Other delicacies

One thing I intentionally left out and put in a separate section is how great his presentation was. His gear is unique and really fits his character perfectly. On top of that, Santana has one of the best entrances of the whole bunch. He just comes through the crowd and then stands on a barrier in the middle of the crowd. Still, it looks cool and gets them hot every time.

Overall, he had good matches, delivered good promos, put on a great presentation and was treated like a big deal even when he was outshining others. That’s what I call perfect booking.

Thank you for reading this article. I really appreciate it.

If you want to see Santana’s current TNA runs for yourself, you can easily check out a playlist that TNA itself has put together on its YouTube channel that includes everything Mike Santana has done so far by clicking HERE.