Santos Escobar Forced To Leave NXT 2.0

Written by Sondra Ruth • Published 17th August 2022
Santos Escobar Legado del Fantasma Elektra Lopez Joaquin Wilde Cruz Del Toro

After a brutal street fight with Tony D’Angelo, Santos Escobar is forced to leave NXT 2.0.

For months, Legado del Fantasma have been linked with Tony D’Angelo’s Family. While the two factions were initially at odds, the events of In Your House saw the members of former Cruiserweight Champion Santos Escobar’s crew forced to join forces under the leadership of D’Angelo when the Family was able to defeat Legado del Fantasma in a six man tag team match.

In the following weeks, D’Angelo would command the members of Legado del Fantasma to do his bidding, getting them to interfere on behalf of the Family in an attempt to gain more power and influence over the rainbow brand.

However, at Great American Bash on July 5th, D’Angelo revealed that Santos Escobar had been hospitalized, and it was heavily implied that D’Angelo had put him in the medical facility himself for failing to help The Don win any championships in NXT. It was soon revealed that crew member Two Dimes had also suffered punishment at the hands of D’Angelo’s crew after Troy Donovan was released from the company following a failed drug test.

Two weeks ago, Tony D’Angelo and Stacks attempted to win the NXT Tag Team Championships when they faced the Creed Brothers. However, at long last, Santos Escobar returned to the rainbow brand and interfered in the match, helping the Creed Brothers retain. Later on, they agreed to one final meeting as it was clear they couldn’t work together.

The August 9th episode of NXT saw the meeting come to pass, and as the two sat across from each other at a long table, Escobar laid out his intentions for NXT Heatwave.

He challenged D’Angelo to one final match, vowing that if he lost, he would leave NXT forever. D’Angelo was pleased with this stipulation, but insisted that if Escobar were to leave NXT, the rest of Legado del Fantasma would have to stay and work for him. Escobar agreed to the terms, as long as D’Angelo agreed that if Escobar won, every member of Legado del Fantasma would be free from working for him forever. D’Angelo agreed, and added that the match would be a street fight.

The street fight at NXT Heatwave saw interference from both Legado del Fantasma as well as Stacks, and while it looked like Elektra Lopez would save the day by handing Escobar a crowbar, D’Angelo ran into her and knocked her to the ground, thwarting her plan.

In the end, Tony D’Angelo was able to defeat Santos Escobar, much to the chagrin of the NXT crowd, who continued to chant “Legado!” long after the match was over. Because of the stipulation, Escobar is now forced to leave NXT 2.0, leading many to wonder if we may see the former Cruiserweight Champion on Raw or SmackDown soon. The rest of Legado del Fantasma is still under the employ of Tony D’Angleo, and it remains to be seen how that will play out in the weeks to come.

Elsewhere at NXT Heatwave, Gallus made a splash with their arrival in NXT 2.0 as they attacked all four members of Diamond Mine. Full results from NXT Heatwave can be found here.