El Hijo del Fantasma unmasks, reveals new WWE NXT name
After winning NXT’s interim Cruiserweight Championship tournament last week, El Hijo del Fantasma unmasked tonight and revealed his new WWE name.
Fantasma is now using the name Santos Escobar in NXT. The two masked men who got involved in last week’s title tournament finals also unmasked and revealed themselves as Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde.
Drake Maverick interrupted a promo by Fantasma on tonight’s NXT. He congratulated Fantasma on defeating him last week, thanked him for the match they had, and said Fantasma deserves to be Cruiserweight Champion. But Maverick said he can’t help but think about what would have happened if his mind was clear last week. Maverick said he’s a full-time contracted member of the NXT roster now and knows he can beat Fantasma.
Maverick asked for another shot at the title. Fantasma accepted, but the two masked men then appeared. Fantasma acted like he was going to fight them off with Maverick, but he then turned around and attacked Maverick.
All three beat Maverick down, then Mendoza and Wilde unmasked. Fantasma gave Maverick the Phantom Driver, unmasked, and revealed his new name. Mendoza and Wilde then hit splashes from the top rope on Maverick.
There were angles in March and April where Mendoza and Wilde were abducted by masked kidnappers in the parking lot. Dave Meltzer reported that: “The kidnapping spots on NXT are to lead to the introduction of Jorge Bolly, or whatever name El Hijo del Fantasma will go by. It’s the Simbianese Liberation Army storyline where the captives sympathize with their captors and Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde become his Patty Hearsts.”
Instead of calling Escobar an interim champion, WWE lists Escobar and Jordan Devlin as both being Cruiserweight Champions. The interim title tournament took place because Devlin currently isn’t able to travel and defend his championship due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The tournament was Fantasma’s WWE television debut.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.