Mike Santana WWE Name Change Confirmed

Published: Jul 27, 2026 by Connel Rumsey | Last Updated: Jul 27, 2026 by Connel Rumsey

Connel has over five years of wrestling journalism experience writing about some of the biggest stories from across the wrestling world. Being a fan for 20 years, Connel has an expansive knowledge from a wide range of various wrestling promotions, including WWE, AEW, NJPW, TNA and Joshi.

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Mike Santana has officially confirmed his new WWE ring name following his debut to close out last week’s NXT show.

At the end of last week’s WWE NXT show, Tony D’Angelo would retain the NXT Championship in a Street Fight against Naraku, seemingly bringing an end to their rivalry.

However, the show would go off the air with the arrival of former TNA World Champion Mike Santana, who officially became a free agent the week before, with him now officially signed to NXT.

Mike Santana Confirms WWE Name Change

As is tradition with debuting NXT stars, Santana was not referred to by name on the broadcast or on WWE’s social media videos, though he was at one point named Mike Santana on WWE’s Facebook page.

Earlier today, it was revealed that WWE had recently trademarked the ring name Cruz Montana, which many speculated would be the new ring name for Santana in WWE.

In a new social media video shared ahead of tomorrow night’s NXT, Santana spoke for the first time since officially joining WWE, where he confirmed his new ring name is Cruz Montana.

He said:

“Last week, I made my official debut on NXT and set the wrestling world on fire, all without saying a thing. But my actions let everyone know exactly what my sights were set on.

“But tomorrow night live, I put words behind those actions, and for the first time, you get to hear what Cruz Montana has to say, I’ll see you there.”

If you use this transcription or any portion of it please credit WrestleTalk.com and link to this page.

Cruz Montana Becomes Latest Former AEW Star To Join WWE

Over the years, we have begun to see a number of AEW stars leave the company to make the move over to WWE, with Cruz Montana the latest in the list.

While several former AEW stars have immediately hit the ground running in WWE and arguably been even more successful than they were in AEW, with names like CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Ethan Page and Penta among that list, the transition has been less seamless for other names, such as Rey Fenix, Rusev (Miro), Blake Monroe and Royce Keys.

It remains to be seen how much success Montana will have in WWE and on the main roster, though he will likely at least become NXT Champion in the not too distant future.

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