El Hijo Del Fantasma Now Known As Santos Escobar, Big WWE NXT Storyline Reveal With Masked Men

By Marc Middleton

WWE NXT Cruiserweight Champion El Hijo del Fantasma is now known as Santos Escobar.

Tonight's NXT episode on the USA Network saw the mystery man kidnapping storyline continue as Fantasma came to the ring for an interview on last week's title win over Drake Maverick in the tournament finals. Maverick came out and eventually asked for a rematch. That's when the mystery masked men came out and hit the apron to stare Fantasma and Maverick down. Fantasma and Maverick stood back-to-back, ready to fight, until Fantasma turned around and attacked him.

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Fantasma and the two masked men then triple teamed Maverick. Fantasma removed his mask and announced that he is now known as Santos Escobar. He stood with the masked men, who then revealed themselves to be Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde. The segment ended with Escobar hitting a Phantom Driver to Maverick before Mendoza and Wilde hit top rope splashes at the same time.

As we've noted, the plan going back several months was for Fantasma to be the leader of the masked men who abducted Mendoza and Wilde in parking lot attacks. There's no word yet on if the group will consist of other members. It was reported months ago that that the storyline was supposed to be inspired by a left wing domestic terrorist group that was active in the 1970s – the Symbionese Liberation Army. The SLA was most famously known for the kidnapping of heiress Patty Hearst, who committed crimes with the group but later stated that they had threatened to kill her and sexually assaulted her, which led to them allegedly brainwashing and indoctrinating her. Hearst's attorney would later use the Stockholm syndrome argument while defending her in court. That was reportedly the inspiration for the kidnapped NXT Superstars joining the group as members.

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Fantasma tweeted after tonight's big reveal and wrote, "I lead... YOU follow. #WWENXT"

Stay tuned for updates on the storyline. Below are a few shots from tonight's in-ring angle:

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