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TNA Wrestling star Mike Santana has reflected on how a letter to Santa Claus saved him from his devastating struggle with addiction.
The 33-year-old wrestler, who recently returned to the promotion at Rebellion in April, has been candid about his personal battles over the years, and a note from his young daughter to Father Christmas helped him turn things around.
He exclusively told Metro.co.uk: ‘When she wrote that letter that was at the height of, “Alright, I’m really messing up pretty bad”. Like, it was bad.
‘So me, you know, ignorantly thinking, “Oh, she’s still young, she doesn’t really get it. She’s not really paying attention”, right? Like, that’s, that’s what was going on in my head.
‘But that letter was like, “Oh, s**t, she is paying attention. And she knows that something is wrong with me.” ‘
That Christmas, Santana’s daughter simply asked for her dad to stop drinking.
Santana admitted he ‘knew he had a problem’ before that point, after a difficult childhood and then dealing with the death of his own father just before the pandemic.
‘Everyone around me knew I had a problem. But you know, as addicts will do, as we do, and that’s deny, deny, deny, and try to run away from those realities,’ he admitted.
‘I was dealing with so much internally, that I didn’t know how to deal with all those things. So I just did what I did best. And that was run from them, and that was numb myself with other things.’
Santana had always promised himself he wouldn’t give his daughter the same life he’d had growing up, but he realised the path he was on, particularly after his own dad died four years ago.
‘That life is what initially got me to where I was, and dealing with all that childhood trauma. It contributed a lot to my addictions. And I refuse to have my daughter live that life,’ he said.
‘[Losing my dad] destroyed me completely. And how selfish would I be that I give her that same life?’
The former tag team champion has turned things around, and in February 2023, just three months after seeing the letter from his daughter, he went to rehab and has been enjoying his sobriety.
‘I continue to give thanks every single day, because back then I didn’t know if I was gonna see another day,’ he revealed. ‘Every day that I’m blessed with, it’s a blessing and I take it as such, man. I’m living great, I have learned how to balance my work and my personal life, and I love being a dad.’
He is also finding comfort in wrestling again, after a difficult period fraught with creative frustrations in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and the breakdown of his longtime tag team and friendship with Ortiz.
This world had always been an escape for Santana, and now in TNA Wrestling and on the independent scene, it’s become that again.
‘Throughout my life and dealing with its traumas and everything that I went through as a kid, I always ran to wrestling as my escape,’ he said. ‘And I ran and ran so much that I made my escape my career.’
Santana did voice his frustrations with AEW boss Tony Khan, and WWE legend Chris Jericho when he was part of his on-screen Inner Circle, but stepping away has been the best thing for his career and mental wellbeing.
‘I feel like I’m brand new again, and everything is fresh for me now,’ he excitedly explained about his ‘new chapter’. ‘In any career, you have to chase growth, right? You want to progress you want to grow. So that’s where I’m at now.’
He’s come back into TNA Wrestling at a fascinating time, particularly as the company has embarked on a crossover with WWE, opening the door to get more eyes on TNA and showcase the promotion to a wider audience.
‘TNA has a lot to offer. We have a great roster, we have a great team in general, not just in the locker room but production and behind the scenes,’ he gushed.
‘It’s an awesome time and I think everyone involved is blessed to be a part of what’s going on.’
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TNA Wrestling fans can tune into IMPACT weekly – as well as the company’s specials and historic content – via TNA+.
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