10 Wrestlers That Lied To Get What They Wanted

1. Santino Marella Bluffs Italian

Vince McMahon Santino Marella
WWE.com

Nova: Hey, Anthony. Can you speak Italian?

Santino Marella: Sure!

The above conversation obviously isn't word-for-word, but something along those lines did happen over the phone before Santino scored a WWE main roster run in 2007. The developmental hopeful scraped together some basic Italian phrases and convinced the company he was fluent.

Marella told Chris Van Vliet's 'Insight' show that he genuinely said, "Voglio mezzo chilo di formaggio" in front of company officials when they asked him to speak Italian. That, for reference, translates as: "I want a half kilo of cheese". How did they not click that he was winging it?!

WWE were sold and flew Santino out for a live Raw special in Milan, Italy. There, he beat Umaga in an upset to become new Intercontinental Champion on the 16 April '07 episode. Even the Milanese faithful didn't seem to know he'd been born in Canada!

Which other wrestlers lied to get what they wanted? For more wrestling, check out 4 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Rampage (Sept 9) and 10 Wrestlers WWE Shouldn't Rehire!

Watch Next


Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.