Cruz Montana, formerly known as Mike Santana, has spoken candidly about the difficult decision to leave TNA Wrestling and begin a new chapter with WWE NXT. After departing AEW in 2024, Santana returned to TNA and quickly established himself as one of the promotion's standout singles stars. His resurgence saw him capture the TNA World Championship twice before dropping the title to Nic Nemeth at TNA Slammiversary just days before making his WWE debut under the new ring name, Cruz Montana. Now settled into WWE NXT, Montana has already made it clear he has his sights set on Tony D'Angelo's NXT Championship. However, his title aspirations were immediately dismissed by Grayson Waller, who mocked the former TNA star during his recent return promo.