TNA Star Mike Santana Name Drops Former TNA & WWE Champion AJ Styles As Top Dream Opponent

Mike Santana has been one of the top stars in TNA Wrestling recently, and that doesn’t look like it’s changing anytime soon.

There has been many “dream match” scenarios being conjured up since the announcement of the WWE/TNA partnership back in January.

Most notably, NXT Champion Oba Femi defended his title against current TNA X Division champion and top TNA star, Moose, last Tuesday night.

Speaking with MuscleManMalcolm, Mike Santana was asked to comment on who he wanted to wrestle in WWE, and he named AJ Styles.

“AJ Styles. TNA was the place that put me on the map, as far as a big audience, and he is hands down the face of TNA. He is the number one homegrown talent, and I consider myself one of those homegrown talents from TNA. He is one of the best in the world, and for me to be able to go head-to-head with him and elevate myself and learn from him, I think it would be amazing. To me, that’s my ultimate…I just had a dream match with KENTA, he was one of them, and AJ Styles is definitely another one. [Asked whether it would happen in WWE or TNA]. I want it in a TNA ring.”

H/T Colin Tessier for Fightful on transcription.

TNA is often billed as “the house that AJ built”, so this match with by many accounts the new face of the company, Mike Santana, would be very intriguing, especially on a big stage like TNA Slammiversary in the UBS Arena in New York.

AJ has quite the resume across both TNA and WWE, racking up the WWE title twice, the United States title three times, the Intercontinental Title once, and a random Tag Team Title run with Omos. As far as TNA goes, AJ racked up 6 X Division Title runs, two World Title reigns, two Television title runs, and two Tag Team Title runs – once with Tomko, and once with Hall of Famer Kurt Angle.

Although he was just defeated by an underhanded Mustafa Ali at TNA Sacrifice on Friday, Santana is still highlighted as a top star; his angle with Mustafa Ali will continue, as revealed at Sacrifice when he was given a rematch with Ali this coming Thursday on TNA iMPACT!

Santana has dealt with his real-life demons of pills and alcohol, but has been sober for quite some time. The usage of that story in this feud with Mustafa Ali has been very compelling and made this the top story in the company for the past few weeks.

Will Santana even the score on Thursday with Tasha Steelz and the Great Hands banned from ringside? Or will Mustafa Ali have to find another way to win? We’ll have to tune in to find out.

Make sure you watch all the stars of TNA WRESTLING EVERY Thursday!
–AXSTV in USA
–TNA+ App. Sign up here. (Watch weekly iMPACT! episode simulcasted at the same time as AXS TV – 8pm Eastern /7pm Central)
–SportsNet 360 in CANADA

Catch the REPLAYS of TNA iMPACT:

–Right Now TV Network – multiple markets in the US (9-11pm Eastern time Tuesdays // episode from the previous week)
–SportsNet Pittsburgh– Pittsburgh, PA (Thursdays 10pm Eastern)
–New England Sports Network National Feed – 6 different states in the Northeast (Saturday 12-2pm Eastern, Sundays 12-2 am Eastern)
–Fight Network (13 day delay)/ TNA + app(14 day delay) – Canada

Help support Chris Bey by purchasing the “We Heart Bey” T-Shirt. All proceeds go to Chris Bey.
Here: https://tnamerch.com/collections/all-new-t-shirts/products/we-heart-bey-t-shirt?variant=46760894791904

Bey’s new “Greatest Story Ever Told” shirt from Pro Wrestling Tees: https://www.prowrestlingtees.com/wrestler-t-shirts/chrisbey/greatest-story-ever-told.html
Other ways to help: https://tnawrestling.com/bey/

Help Jake Something as he recovers from a torn triceps injury:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/jake-needs-your-help-for-medical-bills

Follow Gerard at @BearDown316 on Twitter

If you enjoy Bodyslam’s content, you can help donate to the site here. You can also visit our PWTees store and buy Bodyslam official merchandise here.

You can listen to all of Bodyslam’s podcasts by following us on Spotify and subscribing to our YouTube Channel,  or any of your favorite podcast platforms.
Follow us on Twitter: @BodyslamNet

BodySlamNet is back with a brand new interactive YouTube channel! Get ready for more live streams of show reviews, post shows, watch alongs, interviews and much more covering WWE, AEW, NJPW, IMPACT Wrestling/TNA, STARDOM, GCW, ROH and more.
——————————————————————————————————– 
See Cassidy Haynes, Stephanie Hypes, Alex Lajas aka Queen of the Ring, Lyric Wrestling, Lo, LeMaire Lee, Lewis, Astrid and more for our new LIVE post shows where we will be discussing all the weekly shows with you all. 
——————————————————————————————————
Follow BodySlam Net on all social media platforms at @BodySlamNet 
——————————————————————————————————–
You can show your support for all of our new hosts, videos and channel at slamchats.com for viewer donations that go directly to us here. Support BodySlam!