10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week (Nov 19)

10. The Honky Tonk Man Secretly Wanted Santino Marella To Beat His Record

From June 2, 1987 until August 29, 1988, The Honky Tonk Man held the WWF Intercontinental Title. Largely over-matched by opponents inside the ring, the man's gimmick revolved around escaping by the skin of his teeth with that title reign still intact. In total, Honky held the belt for a record 454 days.

In 2008, Santino Marella won the Intercontinental Title and started claiming that he would top Honky Tonk Man's record. Naturally, that didn't happen, Santino held the belt for 85 days. In Honky's mind, booking Marella to drop the title so soon was a missed opportunity by WWE.

Speaking to Total Wrestling Magazine, the Honky Tonk Man revealed that he pitched a storyline to the company which would culminate at WrestleMania XXV. By then, Santino would have held the belt since SummerSlam 2008, and Honky would be re-introduced to try and stop his younger peer from succeeding as champion.

Then, Honky Tonk Man would put Santino over at 'Mania. Following that, Marella would actually beat the long-standing record. Unfortunately, WWE management weren't interested in the idea.