26-year veteran believes Konnan managing popular AEW stars would have made them "unstoppable"

AEW's tag team division is as hot as it's ever been, with teams like FTR, The Acclaimed, and MJF & Adam Cole leading the charge every week. But one of the most prominent teams of Dynamite's early days has been missing from television, and former NWA World Tag Team Champion Hernandez thinks that Konnan could have taken them to the next level.

The team in question is former Inner Circle enforcers Santana and Ortiz (aka Proud & Powerful). The two last competed together in the Blood & Guts match in June of last year. Since then, injuries and rumors of real-life heat between them have led to the two largely vanishing from AEW television.

Santana and Ortiz were allied with WCW legend Konnan in IMPACT Wrestling shortly before AEW was founded in 2019. The three feuded with Eddie Kingston, Homicide, and Hernandez, culminating in a Concrete Jungle Death match at Bound for Glory 2018.

Speaking on the Great North Wrestling podcast, Hernandez believes that Konnan could have worked wonders for the young stars in All Elite Wrestling:

"I honestly think and this is my opinion, Santana and Ortiz are amazing wrestlers, they were not ready to not have Konnan next to them, because he knows — Konnan with the verbiage, it can make anyone unstoppable. He made them believable to go against me and Homicide and Eddie Kingston."

Hernandez further declared that AEW "dropped the ball" by not having Konnan represent the former Proud & Powerful as their mouthpiece:

"If I was AEW, I would’ve brought Konnan with them. There’s no way, without a shadow of a doubt — it’s foolproof. He did it for me and Homicide, he did it for Ortiz and Santana, he can do it for anyone. It’s virtually foolproof to have him bring Latino stars and him spout his verbiage and elicit crowd responses. Yays or boos, whatever you need him to do and make money. That’s where AEW dropped the ball. Not bringing Konnan with them." [H/T POST Wrestling]

Konnan previously confirmed the rumors of real-life heat between Santana and Ortiz in AEW

Santana and Ortiz, known as Proud & Powerful, were among the first tag teams to make an impact in All Elite Wrestling. The two were hand-picked as enforcers by Chris Jericho when the WWE legend founded his Inner Circle faction.

However, the two haven't been seen together in over a year now. Amid rumors of real-life heat between them, Konnan confirmed on an episode of his Keepin It 100 podcast that the two were having issues.

"They are not on good terms," Konnan said.

Santana suffered a knee injury during last year's Blood & Guts but recently reappeared on social media to share a teaser of his imminent return.

Would you like to see Santana and Ortiz back together? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.