WWE NXT Plans For Mike Santana As Cruz Montana

WWE

On the July 21 edition of WWE NXT, Tony D’Angelo defeated Naraku in a Street Fight to retain the NXT Championship.

After the match, former TNA World Champion Mike Santana showed up to make his presence known as the newest star on the NXT brand.

Now known as Cruz Montana, it should be interesting to see what plans WWE has for the former TNA star on NXT moving forward.

Here are six potential WWE NXT plans for Mike Santana as Cruz Montana.

6. Addressing The NXT Universe On Why He Signed With The Brand

During his time in TNA Wrestling, Mike Santana grew exceptionally as a talker on the microphone.

Now that he is Cruz Montana, the company would be wise to put the newest member of the NXT roster in front of their fans.

With Montana coming out to address the NXT fanbase, it would be intriguing to hear what he has to say as far as his reasons for signing with the company.

Whether it be going after the NXT Championship or having a more personal feud as his first on the brand, Montana will have all eyes on him for the foreseeable future.

5. A New Rivalry With The Vanity Project

There is an argument that no other faction on WWE NXT has garnered more momentum as of late than The Vanity Project.

Led by Jackson Drake, Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes are the current NXT Tag Team Champions, while Myka Lockwood has been turning heads as the muscle of the group.

With Cruz Montana now on NXT, it could make for a natural rivalry with The Vanity Project, playing off their conflicting characters.

While The Vanity Project love the finer things in life, Montana came from the gutter and has risen to the top of the business, so that would make for a compelling rivalry to watch unfold.

4. An Alliance With OTM

Back in March 2026, OTM called upon New York City’s own Mike Santana to team with them to defeat DarkState from Madison Square Garden.

This looked to form some kind of friendship between Santana, Lucien Price and Bronco Nima.

Now that Cruz Montana has signed with WWE NXT, there could be a more formal relationship with OTM moving forward.

Montana forming an alliance with OTM could create one of the most powerful stables on the WWE NXT brand and might be able to run roughshod over anyone in front of them.

3. Helping Saquon Shugars In His Feud With DarkState

After well over a year with the faction, Saquon Shugars found himself on the receiving end of a betrayal from his DarkState stablemates.

In his feud with Dion Lennox, Cutler James and Osiris Griffin, Shugars has been at a numbers disadvantage at every turn.

While he recently got some help from Noam Dar and Romeo Moreno on last week’s WWE NXT, Shugars may need to call upon someone who has experience on the street and knows DarkState pretty well.

Shugars and Cruz Montana forming a partnership would be quite intriguing to see how they interact and get along with one another on their mission to take down DarkState.

2. #1 Contender’s Match Against Naraku

Ever since signing with WWE, Naraku has quickly established himself as one of the biggest stars on the NXT brand.

The former EVIL has become a thorn in the side of NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo, but he has been unable to win the gold after multiple attempts.

After his latest failure, Naraku may need to get some major wins before he can challenge for the top prize on the NXT brand.

Naraku facing off with Cruz Montana in his debut might be an ideal number one contender’s match to determine who is next in line to challenge Tony D for the NXT Championship.

1. Challenge Tony D’Angelo For The NXT Championship In His In-Ring Debut

Cruz Montana did not waste any time whatsoever in making his mark as the newest star on the WWE NXT roster.

On the July 21 episode of WWE NXT, Montana came out and confronted NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo.

Now that he is on the brand, Montana should be one of the top contenders for the NXT Championship moving forward.

To immediately show where he is placed on Tuesday nights, Montana could challenge D’Angelo for the NXT Championship in his in-ring debut on the brand.

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• Mike Santana
• Cruz Montana
• nxt
• wwe

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