TNA World Champion Mike Santana On Second Title Run: “This One Was A Thank You To Myself For Enduring & For Putting In The Work”

Mike Santana is a two-time TNA World Champion, as well as the current title holder. He defeated Frankie Kazarian on the 1/15 TNA premiere on AMC network, and then successfully defended the title two days later against Frankie again, with Nic Nemeth as the Special Guest referee.

While speaking to Q101 in a new interview, Mike Santana made it a point to say that this time, he’s doing it for himself.

“So I said the first title win was a thank you to my family and to my daughter for saving my life and helping me get to that point, and this next title run, this one’s for me. This one was a thank you to myself for enduring and for putting in the work when I had no audience and, no applause, no plan B, no guarantees. I took a bet on myself and put all the chips on the table, and with this, I feel like it’s a lot- I’d say just as meaningful because we’re going into a new era for the company, and we haven’t been- we haven’t had such a huge platform like this in over 10 years, and the fact that the company has put the trust and confidence in me to be the guy who’s going to carry us into that new era and be the face of the company is a huge deal, and it’s an honor that I take very serious. I think, yeah, it’s something that I’m embracing and it’s something that I take a lot of pride in and I can’t wait to continue putting in the work, and because I feel like, you know, there’s some people that get to the top of the mountain and they get complacent, and for me, complacency just doesn’t live in my world. I think my dad would always say the top of one mountain is the bottom of another. So now it’s time to keep climbing and keep showing why I’ve earned and why I belong in this spot.”

H/T Corey Brennan of Fightful.

Full video:

We heard from Mike Santana last week talking about how he knows he has a target on his back, that everybody is coming for him – but he’s ready for the challenge and anybody who comes his way.

Who will be the next one to step up to Mike Santana and make their intentions known to come after his title?

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