After being out of action for several months, Santos Escobar is back in the ring. The former WWE star is now going by Romeo Malverde.
He returned to in-ring action on Sunday night when he teamed with Blue Demon Jr. against Magno & Steven Juarez at the 5th International Lucha Libre Festival in Ciudad Juarez. It marked his first match since March.
He had been sidelined when he suffered a triceps injury in March and underwent surgery. However, he had to undergo a second surgery on an ulnar nerve in April. This has kept him out of action.
His last match under contract with WWE was in AAA on March 14th. WWE released him in April, and he officially became a free agent in July. It’s unclear what his next step will be in the industry and whether he is open to working for a major promotion again.
The son of wrestler El Fantasma, he debuted in 2000 as Top Secret and became El Hijo del Fantasma in 2003. In CMLL, he won the World Middleweight Championship and the CMLL World Trios Championship twice with Héctor Garza and La Máscara.
He moved to AAA in 2013 and became its first World Cruiserweight Champion in 2014. After signing with WWE in 2019, he won the NXT Cruiserweight Championship in 2020, then unmasked as Santos Escobar and formed Legado del Fantasma.
On SmackDown, he was a runner-up in the SmackDown World Cup and wrestled in the 2023 Money in the Bank ladder match. He also moved between the LWO and a heel run against Rey Mysterio that led to a WrestleMania XL tag match.
Gracias. ❤️🔥👑🍀 pic.twitter.com/YIISXBY3Ss
— Romeo Malverde 💀❤️🔥🇲🇽 (@JBElFantasma) September 28, 2026
