Exclusive: Impact Wrestling's Ortiz reveals why LAX are the best tag team in the world
LAX have had a Cinderella year for Impact Wrestling, becoming three-time Impact World Tag Team Champions and generally performing to such a high level that they very often never fail to steal the show, on whatever show they're on.
They've been the highlight of most Impact shows this year with great matches against Killshot and The Mack during Impact vs Lucha Underground, a barnstormer against Jody Fleisch and Jonny Storm at Impact vs UK and even superb feuds against the likes of oVe on Impact itself.
With all that in mind it's no wonder that the pair are starting to gain some traction in the wider wrestling community with people starting to regard them as a tag-team to look out for. In fact, LAX are starting to legitimately come up in best tag-team in the world discussions so I asked Ortiz how he felt about that label!
Ortiz: Yeah, 100% I would have to agree with you, that's our goal. We have a hashtag when we need it which is 'we're on a quest to be the best'. We want to be considered when it is all said and done, forget about championships, forget about making a million dollars, which I do want to make, it's for 20 years from now for someone to go back and say 'oh man those LAX boys they were something else' and hopefully we'll still be doing this twenty years from now if our bodies hold out.
Ortiz also spoke about what it was that made the team of him and Santana so successful, crediting the tutelage of people like Homicide (who he is set to do vicious battle against at Bound for Glory) as well as their hard work ethic.
Ortiz: 100%. We've been putting in the work. Santana and I are seven years as a tag-team, three years separately, we're both about ten years in, if not eleven. We've put in the work and that's a testament to our mentors. As much as I have an issue with Homicide right now we got probably trained by some of the best people.
We've done a million seminars, we've wrestled, like you said, lots of the top tag teams in the world and that experience as well has been really good. We consider ourselves hybrid wrestlers, we can do comedy, we can do lucha, we can do strong-style. We try to show that every time we go out.
LAX have another high-profile match coming up on the Chris Jericho Rock 'N' Wrestling Rager at Sea against another team widely regarded as one of the best, if not the best, in the world, the Young Bucks. However Ortiz had some words for them in relation to the title of 'the best'.
Ortiz: We've got the Young Bucks coming up soon, who a lot of people do consider to be one of the best tag-teams, on the Jericho Cruise. You're going to find out, we're trying to take their spot, we're coming for their spot!
Ortiz also ends up in a cheeky exchange with the OGz' Homicide with Homicide saying that he and Hernandez are the best in the world, not LAX now. Ortiz responds by bragging about beating two of the world's best tag-teams in the same night!
Ortiz: I'm just going to throw it out there we also beat Team 3D and we beat the Hardy Boyz in the same night, just throwing it out there.
Whilst LAX might be one of the best tag-teams in the world, their next move is to prove they are the best version of their own tag-team when the rivalry between the OGz and LAX truly ends at Bound for Glory. Once thing's for certain though, there's no doubt that Santana and Ortiz will go on to become one of the wrestling industry's most memorable tag-teams, regardless of the result at Bound for Glory!
Do you think LAX are one of the best tag-teams in the world, and if no, why not? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!