Santos Escobar Makes First Televised Appearance Since Signing New WWE Contract

Over three months after Santos Escobar agreed to a contract extension with WWE, the former Cruiserweight Champion finally resurfaced Saturday night during the big Lucha Libre AAA on Fox premiere.

While wearing his old Hijo del Fantasma Jr. mask, Escobar interrupted Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. as he was delivering an in-ring challenge. After exchanging a handshake, Santos whispered something in Wagner’s ear, and then he dropped the AAA Latin American Champion with a punch.

He then picked up the title belt, unmasked and introduced himself to the crowd as Santos Escobar, before throwing the championship back in the face of Wagner.

.@EscobarWWE IS BACK 👀 pic.twitter.com/7Glpw6O0O2
— WWE (@WWE) January 18, 2026

This was Escobar's first appearance on WWE or AAA programming since last July and he hasn't wrestled a televised match since Worlds Collide in Los Angeles, California in June.

His WWE contract briefly expired back in October, and he was moved to the alumni section of the company website amid rumors that he was heading to All Elite Wrestling. Within a couple of days, however, Santos reversed course and signed back with WWE after another round of contract negotiations.

Mike Johnson of PWInsider was the one who broke the news. He reported that WWE was willing to listen and consider his concerns regarding his creative direction, and the company ultimately offered him a higher rate to stay.

Santos Escobar isn't ready to speak to anyone about where he's been these past few months

Santos Escobar, Elektra Lopez, Angel and Berto make their way to the ring — Legado Del Fantasma | WWE

There were many who were under the impression that Escobar would make his return to WWE television almost immediately after putting pen to paper on his new deal, but that obviously did not happen.

As for why he's remained on the sidelines for the past few months, Santos isn't ready to speak on that just yet. He cut a brief social media promo after his confrontation with Dr. Wagner Jr. and said that no one cared to ask questions while he was gone, so he'll answer them now on his own time.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer recently reported that creative plans for Escobar had "fallen through the cracks", but were expected to get back on track shortly. Cue his actions Saturday night.

There was no sign of Angel or Berto at the AAA show. The remaining members of Legado Del Fantasma have also been absent since October. We'll provide more information on their future as it becomes available.

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