Santana and Ortiz have revealed the role that Chris Jericho played in bringing them to AEW.
Santana and Ortiz made a name for themselves in Impact Wrestling as the younger generation of LAX. Many have praised the team not only for their abilities but their authenticity. The team debuted for AEW back in Aug. 2019 at All Out. On the debut episode of Dynamite, Santana and Ortiz aligned themselves with Chris Jericho. Soon, Santana and Ortiz, Jericho, Sammy Guevara, and Jake Hager would form The Inner Circle.
During an edition of the AEW Unrestricted podcast, Santana and Ortiz spoke on their decision to sign with AEW over WWE.
“That was one of the deciding factors for us coming into the company because right before we went in, we had offers to go to WWE or AEW. We were on the fence initially, but one of the swaying decisions for us was Chris specifically wanted us to be a part of The Inner Circle. We were like, wow. He’s a huge part of our bonding experience. When we started becoming a tag team, we both read Jericho’s first book, ‘A Lion’s Tale’, so we were like this is the blueprint to be a wrestler.
“This is it right here. He was a journeyman. He wrestled everywhere. This is what we want to do. Watching guys like him, Dean, Eddie, we wanted to be true journeymen. We bonded over his first book, so fast forward to us hearing Cody saying Chris wants us to be in this stable, we were like, ‘What? What’s going on right now.’ It was just one of those real weird, full circle moments where we were like, we bonded over his first book, and now we are a part of his journey, and a part of his legacy.
“We will be tied into his career. It’s crazy when you look at it that we grew up watching him and all of these guys. This whole experience the past two years has been insane. With everything that’s gone on personally in my life, with everything professionally, the whole pandemic, it’s just been crazy insane.”
Santana & Ortiz are currently involved in a feud with FTR. The two will meet on the Sept. 1 edition of AEW Dynamite. Santana & Ortiz lost their first meeting against FTR on July 28, which ended early after Cash Wheeler suffered a nasty arm injury.
As for Jericho, his rivalry with MJF has led to the ultimate stipulation. Jericho has challenged MJF to one last match at All Out on Sept. 5. If Jericho loses, he will put his in-ring career with AEW to rest.