Ortiz Says WWE Wanted To Hire Him And Santana, Reveals Why They Chose AEW

During their time as free agents, Santana and Ortiz were one of the most sought after tag teams in wrestling before the two settled with AEW. They were then paired with the company's first world champion, Chris Jericho, which helped them to get off to a hot start in 2019. However, the decision to join AEW wasn't an easy one, as the duo had multiple suitors. On the "Shining Wizards Wrestling Podcast", Ortiz revealed there were various options on the table at first. Due to AEW's scheduling, though, the pair decided to join Tony Khan's promotion, which was in the early stages of its life.

"Impact definitely wanted to keep us," Ortiz said. "WWE was an option at that time. It really went back and forth with us and it made our decision really hard. They made it very appealing and we would've gone over for 'NXT.' They were making it really appealing and hard for us to actually choose AEW. Ultimately, we went with AEW just because the schedule was a huge factor being that we would be at home more with our families. We'd be able to raise our children and have more of a hand in that. We were thinking best case scenario. Lets say we'd bust our a** and take off and make it to the main roster in WWE. We'd probably never be home."

Santana and Ortiz's time on AEW TV programming has decreased in recent years, and Santana suffered an ACL injury in 2022 that also altered their trajectory. While Santana returned in August 2023, the two were no longer working as a tag team. According to Ortiz, Santana is adamant about not wanting to team up again, which has left their futures uncertain.