Mike Santana unveils new WWE ring name as Cruz Montana

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NXT will emanate from the Performance Center in Orlando tonight, as we continue to head towards Heatwave later this summer. Three grudge matches are on the docket, and the Men’s North American Title will be up for grabs. Plus, we’ll hear from NXT’s newest acquisition and latest victim of the dreaded NXT Name Generator. Be sure to tune into the action on the CW starting at 8 PM ET, and follow along with all the action right here on Cageside! NXT Universe….. meet Cruz Montana! Yesterday, Cagesider -CS- posted a tweet from the artist formerly known as Mike Santana in The Feed, letting us know that for the first time ever, we would hear from Cruz Montana on NXT tonight. A short time later, our main man Sean Rueter reported on the name change further, mentioning that WWE filed a trademark for the name last Friday. Now, Cruz Montana isn’t a terribly egregious name on its own. But when you consider the fact that Mike Santana made several appearances on NXT since they began their partnership with TNA last year, the latest example of the company WWE-ifying a wrestler’s name hasn’t been well-received so far. After former champions Joe Hendry and Jordynne Grace made their own TNA exodus in recent years, there seemed to be a precedent for new NXT talent to keep their previous monikers. When it comes to the newly renamed Cruz Santana, the closest and most recent comparisons we have are Blake Monroe and Ricky Saints. After becoming household names in All Elite Wrestling, Richard Starks and Mariah May Mead underwent slight name changes after debuting in NXT in 2025. A native of New Orleans, Starks got to keep his real first name, but change his last name to Saints as an obvious ode to his hometown NFL team. In the case of Mariah, she reportedly had some say in her new NXT name of Blake Monroe, with Blake being a tribute to her niece and Monroe the very first wrestling name she ever came up with in 2017 before her career had even began. Perhaps part of the Cruz Montana introduction we get tonight will be NXT’s newest acquisition shedding some light on the personal significance of his new name. Or maybe truly was another in a long line of well-documented instances of WWE trying to scrub new talent of their previous personas in a quest to own their name, image, and likeness, then, now, and forever. Time will tell. Either way, as someone who follows both NXT and TNA, I’m going to do my best to not let a goofy name change quell the excitement I have for Cruz Montana arriving on Tuesday nights. He set his sights firmly on the NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo when he came through the crowd at the end of last week’s show, immediately adding a talent at the top of the card on the men’s side that NXT has been lacking for months. Now that Tony D has put Naraku firmly behind him, it appears the path has been cleared for Montana to get the next shot at the gold. With Heatwave coming up in just over a month, will Tony and Cruz set that as the date for their inevitable showdown? Or will we see that match much sooner, and on a Tuesday night instead? North American Title on the line For months, Tavion Heights has been trying to get the NQCC back together. After noticing that the other former members of the stable had all moved on, Heights came to the realization he was all alone. After spending a few weeks fighting with Myles Borne and trying to take the North American Championship from his former tag partner, Heights made things right, but a reunion in the tag team division was still on his mind. Finally, last week, after resisting the reunion for months, Myles Borne agreed to team up with Tavion once again, and the former No Quarter Catch Crew went to GM Robert Stone to ask for a shot at the Swipe Right boys of the Vanity Project. Stone was hesitant at first, with logistical concerns about Myles Borne defending the championship that he already has, the North American Title that he has held for over 5 months now. Myles then surprised Heights with his persistence, when he offered to put his North American Championship on the line this week… if he and Tavion could get a NXT Tag Team Title shot next week. The GM agreed to those terms, and now both matches are “Set in Stone”. Myles Borne will defend the North American Title tonight against Kam Hendrix, whose health meter finally filled all the way back up last week. Will Myles’ title reign continue, giving him a chance to become Two Belts Borne next week? Or will it soon be Lights, Kam, Action on Tuesday nights with a new NA Champ? Quick Hits After their brawl spilled out of the Performance Center during the #1 contenders match a few weeks back, OTM gets an opportunity to get their hands on at least two of the members of Birth Right tonight. Will the floundering faction of nepo-babies (and Stacks) finally do something interesting and pick up a win? Or will OTM be able to co-exist despite Bronco Nima spending an awful lot of time with his new dogs in Mexico in recent months? Weeks after competing in the first ever Mr. NXT pageant, Shiloh Hill and Tristan Angels will renew acquaintances once again this week. Will this be their last showdown so both can move on to other (and hopefully more interesting) endeavors on Tuesday nights? Or will shenanigans in this match ensure that this rivalry gets stretched out until Heatwave at the end of August? Lizzy Rain got involved in Culling business last week when she attacked Izzi Dame, allowing Shawn Spears to pick up a DQ win over Niko Vance. Is the Maiden of Metal going to officially align with the former Perfect 10 to take down the remnants of The Culling? Or will Izzi take down the feisty newcomer and start to re-establish herself in the loaded NXT women’s division? Kendal Grey agreed last week to defend her title in an NXT Underground match in a rematch from the Great American Bash against Lola Vice. That fight will go down on next week’s show. What will Kendal do to prepare to face Lola in her signature match with the NXT Women’s Championship on the line? My vote? A series of montages with Kendal and Wren Sinclair training for the match while eating cake. DarkState won the battle against Saquon Shugars in 6-man tag team action last week after Shugars enlisted Romeo Moreno and Noam Dar as his partners. Will Saquon scour the NXT locker room and find two other guys with nothing better to do and give it another go this week? Or was last week’s loss the last stand for The Shuga Man against his former stablemates? Keanu Carver continued his dominance over Hank & Tank last week, making the former NXT Tag Team Champions look like a couple of jobbers from the local bingo hall. The tables turned a bit on Keanu when Eli Knight EK Prosper returned just a few weeks after falling victim to Carver himself. Is a one-on-one showdown next on the docket for these two, or will Keanu find another pair of former tag team champions to embarrass first? Jaida Parker picked up a pretty unconvincing win over Nattie last week when Thea Hail grabbed the towel that was snatched off of her shoulder earlier in the night and threw it in on Nattie’s behalf. What will the Low Key Legend and her pack of henchwomen do for revenge on Miss Parker and her new ally? Reina Volcan debuted on NXT last week, handily defeating Skylar Raye and piquing the interest of at least one Cageside staff member. What will Volcan do as a follow-up this week? Is a showdown with North American Champion, Zaria, who was conspicuous by her absence last week, in the cards? All this and more on the CW tonight as NXT heads towards their next PLE, Heatwave at the end of August. Let us know what you’re most excited for on tonight’s show in the comments below, and be sure to follow along with the live coverage here on Cageside tonight, starting at 8 PM Eastern!

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To me, the WWE name change process is usually a case of multiple things being true at once: It’s understandable that WWE wants a name they fully control. It’s also questionable or risky for someone who’s established themselves under another name, which is among the reasons why folks like Samoa Joe and AJ Styles didn’t change their name in WWE. It’s a tough spot for talent to be in, as presumably its non-negotiable. So if you want a shot at being under the biggest spotlight in the industry/genre/artform, you often have to do so while building a new brand for yourself, knowing there’s a high probability you’ll some day have to go back to your old brand or create another new one. Put in that spot, they work with WWE to come up with something that’s personally meaningful to them. Those names always sound odd at first, leading to groans and jokes. Once the performer reveals the reasons behind his name change, some of the groaners and jokes feel bad, and others say they all should. After all that, in most cases fans get used to them — and sometimes even like them. But sometimes the new names are just bad, and don’t fit the performer. Which truths apply to Cruz Montana? The fifth certainly seems to have, based on the reaction to Mike Santana revealing it as his new name yesterday (July 28). And because the former AEW talent and TNA World champ is somewhat of a known commodity, including on WWE television, the second is also in play. But while we wait for Montana to begin selling us on his new moniker with his first promo as a WWE Superstar tonight on NXT, he explained that the fourth also is: CRUZ MONTANA. A name I put together as a tribute to honor my late father. Who I’ve always made sure to keep as close as possible to my journey. Losing him 6 years ago, is what sent me on the spiral that I’d eventually rise from, to become the man you see today. And today, that man ADDICTED TO GREATNESS. Here’s to this next chapter. LETS GET IT! CRUZ MONTANA A name I put together as a tribute to honor my late father. Who I’ve always made sure to keep as close as possible to my journey. Losing him 6 years ago, is what sent me on the spiral that I’d eventually rise from, to become the man you see today. And today, that… pic.twitter.com/idROguLV3W — Cruz MONTANA🇵🇷 (@Santana_Proud) July 27, 2026 Santana/Montana*’s been open about the impact losing his father’s had on him many times since his profile began to rise after he left AEW: My dad was my biggest supporter/cheerleader, when it came to this wrestling thing. So when he passed, I told myself that I will always find a way to make him a part of everything I do, going forward. It’s also my way of keeping his name and memory alive. Losing him is what sparked this journey of self discovery. And tho things got very dark for me, it eventually was used as motivation and drive to get me where I am today. As he used to say, “Use your PAIN to PAINT…” Love you pops! My dad was my biggest supporter/cheerleader, when it came to this wrestling thing. So when he passed, I told myself that I will always find a way to make him a part of everything I do, going forward. It’s also my way of keeping his name and memory alive. Losing him is what… https://t.co/qVhSBvZ9lf — Cruz MONTANA🇵🇷 (@Santana_Proud) September 4, 2025 And so, we’re living in that sixth truth now. How do you think the name Cruz Montana will grow on us? * The rhyming still feels goofy, but that will certainly pass the less we think of him as Mike Santana.

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Earlier today (July 27), word went around the wrestle web about a new trademark WWE filed Cruz Montana. Filed last Friday, it lists the standard “Goods and services” explanation for trademarking a potential kayfabe wrestler name: Entertainment services, namely, wrestling exhibitions and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer rendered live and through broadcast media including television and radio, and via the internet or commercial online service; providing wrestling news and information via a global computer network; providing information in the fields of sports and entertainment via an online community portal; providing a website in the field of sports entertainment information; fan club services, namely, organizing sporting events in the field of wrestling for wrestling fan club members; organizing social entertainment events for entertainment purposes for wrestling fan club members; providing online newsletters in the fields of sports entertainment; online journals, namely blogs, in the field of sports entertainment. The name in question seemed Spanish, and considering there was already speculation about whether former TNA World champion Mike Santana would keep that name after signing with WWE and debuting in NXT last week, he seemed the likely recipient of “Cruz Montana”. Which he revealed this afternoon in a social media promo, he is. The video ends by promising that on NXT tomorrow night (July 28), “for the first time, you get to hear what Cruz Montana has to say… Rhyming to his old name makes sense for marketing and promotion, but still feels a bit lame They’re probably going for a Tony Montana reference, but some folks are going to get Miley Cyrus from it. Adding to the oddity of the change is that fact the new Cruz Montana has already appeared as Mike Santana on NXT several times. As you can tell, I’m not sold. Let us know what you think below.