Former WWE star Santos Escobar, also known as Romeo Malverde, spoke with TMZ Inside the Ring about various topics, including his feelings during recovery from an injury.
Escobar said, “I just recovered [flexes]. I feel good. It was difficult, mostly because of the injuries. Not so much for the release itself. Optics always matter, but that is something out of my reach, and I don’t know what was behind it. It was a very heartbreaking situation for me, personally, because I was injured and it was six or seven days after my second surgery. It was even more heartbreaking and disappointing. My mental state at that point, I don’t want to say I was ready, because I don’t think anyone is ready for that, but I had to work hard to get out of the injury and right now, I feel good. Everything that happened the last three months helped me understand the depths of my persona.”
On his WWE release:
“I wasn’t expecting it. Anywhere you work, there are boxes you need to check and these boxes are necessary for you to thrive. I’ve worked extensively to check all of those boxes. I speak, English, French, and Spanish. Can you talk? How do you look? Can you wrestle? I worked to check all of those boxes. I wasn’t expecting it because so many people told me, ‘You’ll never be out of a job because you check all the boxes. You can work on-camera, behind the camera, in the locker room, you’re well-rounded. You’ll never find yourself on the list of released people.’ Life is life. That day, specifically, it was a different day. That day was one of the worst days I could have in my career. Six days after my surgery, I’m doing therapy every day because I have to fly to Mexico and start a TV project. I’m going to do my therapy and I was told, ‘Don’t come and do therapy,’ which worried me. When I hung up, I was like, ‘that’s weird.’ I started looking around to find a place where I could get my therapy because I was going to Mexico. I found a place that could help me. While I’m doing my therapy, I get the call. I have a legal team. I let my contract expire in October. I was ready to part ways and see what was out there.”
On Nick Khan convincing him to stay:
“Nick Khan called me and apologized for the way they treated my character. He said, ‘We’re going to do things right and give you anything you need to thrive and prosper. We’ll send you to AAA, get things squared, and get going.’ That was the reason I re-signed then. I had no reason to believe it was going to end anytime soon. I hadn’t even started my run. I was a free agent at midnight, and I got the call the next day around 1 or 2 PM. They wanted me back. I had no reason to believe this was coming. I told them, ‘Please talk to my attorney.’ That was it. I don’t think those phone calls are to plead any case or make them change your mind. I was really focused on my injury. I wasn’t thinking about anything else. You remember when Mickie James was released and they sent her stuff in a garbage bag? That’s how I felt. I didn’t want to burn that bridge because it doesn’t help anybody, but optics do matter.”
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(H/T to Fightful for transcribing the above quotes)
