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Santana and Ortiz

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Santana and Ortiz, sometimes nicknamed Proud & Powerful, were an American-Puerto Rican professional wrestling tag team consisting of Mark Sanchez (born February 4, 1991) and Miguel Molina (born September 27, 1991), who are best known for their time together in Total Nonstop Action (TNA).[1]

Santana and Ortiz
Mike Santana (right) and Ortiz (left) in 2019
Tag team
MembersAngel Ortiz / Ortiz
Mike Draztik / Mike Santana / Santana
Name(s)The Latin American Xchange / LAX
EYFBO
Proud & Powerful
Santana and Ortiz
Billed fromNew York City, New York
DebutMarch 9, 2012
Years active2012–2023

In 2012, Sanchez and Molina, then known as Mike Draztik and Angel Ortiz respectively, formed a tag team known as EYFBO (acronym for Entertain Your Fucking Balls Off or Entertain Your Freakin Butt Off)[2] and worked for several years on the American independent scene. They won several titles, including the AAW Tag Team Championship, CZW World Tag Team Championship and the HOG Tag Team Championship.

In 2017, they were hired by Impact Wrestling, and changed their names to Ortiz and Santana. They joined Konnan as the members of the stable The Latin American Xchange (LAX) and became a big part of the promotion's tag team division. During their time in Impact, they were four time Impact World Tag Team Champions, holding the record for most combined days as champions, with 662 days and, at one point, the record as the longest reign with 261 days. They also won GFW Tag Team Championship and unified the title with the Impact Tag Team Championship. Santana and Ortiz left the promotion in 2019 and, soon after, joined the newly created All Elite Wrestling, where they joined Chris Jericho's stable The Inner Circle. After a dispute in The Inner Circle, they left and teamed up with Eddie Kingston.

History

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Impact Wrestling (2017–2019)

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Main article: Latin American Xchange

On the March 16, 2017 episode of Impact Wrestling, Santana and Ortiz were part of LAX with Homicide, Diamante, and manager Konnan. LAX attacked Decay, Laredo Kid, Garza Jr., and Reno Scum inserting themselves in the Impact World Tag Team Championship picture and winning them the following week, establishing themselves as heels in the process. On the March 30 episode of Impact Wrestling, Ortiz and Santana defeated Decay, Laredo Kid and Garza Jr. and Reno Scum to win the Impact World Tag Team Championship. On the April 23 episode of Impact Wrestling, Santana and Ortiz defeated Veterans of War (Mayweather and Wilcox) in a tournament finals to win the GFW Tag Team Championship. On November 5 at Bound for Glory, they lost to Ohio Versus Everything (OVE) as part of a double turn with Sami Callihan interfering on OVE's behalf, Jake Crist performing a low blow on Ortiz, and OVE attacking them after the match, thus turning LAX into face in the process.

On the May 24, 2018 episode of Impact King became the newest member of LAX. After the group leader Konnan was attacked, and Homicide and Diamante went missing in action, King assumed leadership of the faction and guided Ortiz and Santana back to being tag team champions. In June, Konnan and Diamante returned, both showing suspicion about King's involvement with the group. On the July 5, 2018 episode of Impact, Konnan confronted King who admitted that it was he who had "taken out a hit" against Konnan to takeover the faction. King then attempted to get Ortiz and Santana to recognize him as the new head of the group but they rejected this and stood beside the original leader, Konnan. Then, former LAX members Hernandez and Homicide returned, entering the ring and attacking Konnan's trio.[3] At Bound for Glory on October 14, Hernandez and Homicide lost to Ortiz and Santana in a Concrete Jungle Death match.

On January 12, 2019, The Lucha Bros (Pentagón Jr. and Rey Fénix) defeated LAX during the TV Tapings in Mexico to win the Impact World Tag Team Championships.[4] Santana and Ortiz would reclaim them at the Rebellion pay per view on April 28. They held the titles until July, when they lost them to The North (Ethan Page and Josh Alexander).

On July 8, it was revealed that Santana and Ortiz would soon be leaving Impact and had interest from WWE and All Elite Wrestling.[5] During August 9 tapings Santana and Ortiz were given a "send off" by the Impact locker room.[6] Santana confirmed the following day that he and Ortiz were in fact done appearing on Impact Wrestling.[7]

All Elite Wrestling (2019–2024)

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See also: Inner Circle

On August 31, 2019, at All Out, Santana and Ortiz debuted as heels for All Elite Wrestling (AEW), attacking both Lucha Brothers (Pentagón Jr. and Fénix) and Nick Jackson after their tag team ladder match.[8] On October 2, the inaugural episode of Dynamite, they teamed with Chris Jericho in the main event and defeated The Elite (Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks).[9] Led by Jericho, they subsequently formed a new faction along with Sammy Guevara and Jake Hager called The Inner Circle.[10] On the November 18, 2020 episode of Dynamite, Konnan reunited with Santana and Ortiz during an Inner Circle party in Las Vegas.[11] On the February 9, 2022 episode of AEW Dynamite, the Inner Circle had a team meeting that ended with Sammy Guevara throwing his vest and walking out. It was later announced that Jericho and Hager would face Santana and Ortiz in a tag team match the following week, with it being billed as the Inner Circle Implodes match.[12] On the March 9, 2022 episode of Dynamite, the Inner Circle was disbanded after Jericho and Hager attacked Santana and Ortiz and formed an alliance with 2point0 and Daniel Garcia. On the June 15, 2022 special episode of Dynamite Road Rager, Ortiz would have his head shaved after losing a hair vs. hair match to Jericho. On the June 29, 2022 at Blood And Guts, they competed in the main event, defeating the Jericho Appreciation Society.

During his absence, it was reported Santana and Ortiz had problems working together.[13][14] After the tag team returned following Santana's recovery from injury, Santana had his ring name changed to Mike Santana.[15] The team competed alongside the Blackpool Combat Club losing to Kingston, Penta El Zero M and Best Friends' Trent Beretta, Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy in a Stadium Stampede match at All In at Wembley Stadium on August 27. After the event, the team disbanded which led to a match on AEW Rampage on October 27, where Santana defeated Ortiz. In March 2024, Santana's profile was removed from AEW's official website, ending his almost five-year tenure with the company.[16]

Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (2019)

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On September 8, 2019, Santana and Ortiz debuted with the Mexican promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), earning their first victory after defeating the team of Arez and Daga and Laredo Kid and Myzteziz Jr.[citation needed]

Championships and accomplishments

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Santana with the Impact Tag Team Championship belt
 
Before they signed with Impact, Santana and Ortiz worked as EYFBO in the independent circuit

Luchas de Apuestas record

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See also: Luchas de Apuestas
Winner (wager) Loser (wager) Location Event Date Notes
Chris Jericho (hair) Ortiz (hair) St. Louis, Missouri Road Rager June 15, 2022 [32]

References

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  1. ^ AEW Staff (November 9, 2019). "AEW FULL GEAR Recap November 9, 2019 (**Includes Spoilers**)". allelitewrestling.com. All Elite Wrestling. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  2. ^ "EYFBO/LAX Interview · The Indy Corner". www.theindycorner.com. Archived from the original on 2018-08-14.
  3. ^ "Homicide & Hernandez RETURN and Lay Waste to LAX! | IMPACT! Highlights July 5, 2018" – via www.youtube.com.
  4. ^ "BIG SPOILER FROM LAST NIGHT'S IMPACT WRESTLING TV TAPING | PWInsider.com". www.pwinsider.com.
  5. ^ "Daily Update: Thiago Santos, John Tatum, LAX". WON/F4W - WWE news, Pro Wrestling News, WWE Results, UFC News, UFC results. July 8, 2019.
  6. ^ "LAX Given Send Off By IMPACT Roster At TV Tapings In Mexico | Fightful Wrestling". www.fightful.com.
  7. ^ "LAX Thanks IMPACT Wrestling, Confirms They Have Wrestled Their Last Match For The Company | Fightful Wrestling". www.fightful.com.
  8. ^ "LAX Debuts At AEW All Out". Wrestling Inc. August 31, 2019.
  9. ^ "AEW Dynamite Results - Oct 2, 2019". Ringside News | Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers. 2019-10-02. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  10. ^ Chris Jericho reveals The Inner Circle, retrieved 2019-10-18
  11. ^ Gagnon, Joshua (November 18, 2020). "Konnan Appears During Inner Circle's Visit To Las Vegas On AEW Dynamite". Wrestling Inc. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  12. ^ "Inner Circle Implosion, No DQ Bout Set for 2/16 AEW Dynamite". 10 February 2022.
  13. ^ Beltrán, William (July 1, 2022). "Santana podría tener problemas con Ortiz y marcharse de AEW". Superluchas.
  14. ^ "AEW tiene otro culebrón: Santana y Ortiz discuten en las redes sociales". solowrestling.mundodeportivo.com. September 9, 2023.
  15. ^ Savage, Amanda (2023-08-24). "AEW Star Returns With New Name". WrestleTalk. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  16. ^ Ravens, Andrew (2024-03-04). "Mike Santana Departs From AEW". 411Mania. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
  17. ^ "AAW Tag Team Championship". Cagematch. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
  18. ^ "CZW Tag Team Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  19. ^ "HOG Heavyweight Championship". Cagematch. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  20. ^ "RIC FLAIR APPEARS, AMAZING RED VS. ZACK SABRE JR. LAX IN INSANE FATAL FOUR WAY & MORE: COMPLETE HOUSE OF GLORY 'SEVEN' COVERAGE FROM NYC - PWInsider.com". www.pwinsider.com.
  21. ^ Martin, Adam (April 23, 2017). "Spoilers: 4/23 Impact Wrestling TV tapings results from Orlando". WrestleView. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  22. ^ "Solie's Title Histories: TNA-IMPACT World Tag Team Championship History". Solie.org. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  23. ^ Impact Best of 2018 Fans' Choice Awards Reveal with Anthony Carelli and Alicia Atout! Behind the Lights Episode 34 retrieved December 20, 2018
  24. ^ "GCW Tag Team Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  25. ^ "Santana Reacts To Becoming The First LAWE World Champion". 22 May 2022.
  26. ^ Grifol, Ignacio (January 14, 2022). "Pro Wrestling Illustrated anuncia los ganadores de sus PWI Awards 2021". Solowrestling.com. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  27. ^ a b "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2019 - the Internet Wrestling Database".
  28. ^ "PWR Tag Team Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  29. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "WrestlePro Tag Team Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  30. ^ "WOW Tag Team Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  31. ^ "WWL World League Team Championship History".
  32. ^ "Chris Jericho Set To Face Ortiz In A Hair vs. Hair Match At AEW Dynamite Road Rager". ewrestling. 2 June 2022. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
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