Mike Santana Opens Up About Reaching WWE After 16 Years

TNA Wrestling star Mike Santana discussed his first WWE NXT appearance with Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful and elaborated on how everything came together.

Santana said, โ€œItโ€™s definitely a rewarding feeling for sure because it validates all the hard work and validates that first initial thought of like, โ€˜Yo, I could do this. People might not see it now, but they will.โ€™ Thatโ€™s the thing too, I was talking earlier with someone and I was like, โ€˜I made a plan for myself and Iโ€™ve been following that plan step for step and itโ€™s been working.โ€™ Also, when putting this plan together, I didnโ€™t put a timeline on it.

He continued, “I didnโ€™t say, โ€˜Alright, by this year, I want to do this.โ€™ I was like, Iโ€™m going to put this plan together, and however long it takes is how long it takes, and Iโ€™m going to do what I got to do, but Iโ€™m going to stick to my guns as much as possible and go forward with this plan. Also, I shared the plan with maybe four people and to have three of those people hit me up constantly and go, โ€˜Itโ€™s crazy how youโ€™ve hit everything on that plan,โ€™ itโ€™s pretty cool. But going back to the WWE thing, itโ€™s a good feeling to feel wanted, of course. Especially when coming from what Iโ€™ve come from and having done what Iโ€™ve done, itโ€™s definitely a good feeling. Honestly, bro, I feel like Iโ€™m just getting started. Thereโ€™s just so much more. Iโ€™m still young, thankfully, and Iโ€™m still healthy and Iโ€™m good to go.โ€

“Itโ€™s taken me 16 years to get to this point…”

On when he found out about it:

โ€œSo I was told maybe a couple days. It just happened so fast. It was like, โ€˜Hey, you got a couple days. This is whatโ€™s happening.โ€™ But I didnโ€™t know like the full-on plan. I just knew that I was going to Battleground and then it snowballed from there. I got that call. They told me what was up and I was like, โ€˜Letโ€™s go, another day at work.โ€™ Thatโ€™s also how I looked at it. I was like, โ€˜Yeah, Iโ€™m going to WWE and itโ€™s a major deal, itโ€™s my first time walking through those doors.โ€™ Hell, I said it in my very first time in front of a WWE camera. Itโ€™s taken me 16 years to get to this point, but at the same time, I treated it like another day at work.โ€

You can check out Santana’s comments in the video below.