Squeezing his way into the Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship in February 2012, small comedy midcarder Santino Marella was on a hiding to nothing from the beginning. His opponents included two genuine giants in the Big Show and the Great Khali, two blue chipper wrestlers in Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett, and the champion himself, technical marvel and submission specialist Daniel Bryan. The leadup to the match involved Marella engaging in amusing parodies of Rockys training regimen - and true to that underdog spirit, he ended up being one of the last two left in the match. His opponent was Daniel Bryan himself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u74Ih7W4GsU Both men were roughly the same size and weight, and technically Santino - or rather, Anthony Carelli, the man behind the cod-Italian comedy gimmick - was an accomplished mixed martial artist himself. Of course, this wasnt a shoot: Santino Marella didnt have the skill to beat Daniel Bryan. Despite a tough stance and plenty of gumption, he couldnt help tapping out to the LaBell Lock in the end. Still, for a good five minutes the crowd were firmly behind the clown, determined to support him in his bid for the second biggest title in WWE. There arent enough moments like that in wrestling: small bids to keep us on our toes, to make us think that something out of the ordinary might occur. Nice try, Santino.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
