10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week (Dec 16)
6. Jake Roberts Paid Santino Marella The Ultimate Compliment At WrestleMania 32
Suffering from neck pain and forced to undergo surgery several times over the course of a few years, Santino Marella was eventually released from his WWE contract in May, 2016. This brought to an end quite the tenure, Marella's comedy character had been a breath of fresh air on WWE programming for years.
Appearing on The Kevin Gill Show this week, Santino told a story about his experiences behind the scenes at WrestleMania 32. Watching the card and delighted to be in attendance, Marella said he stumbled across Jake 'The Snake' Roberts in the backstage area. Much to his surprise, Jake was extremely nice to him.
Greeting Santino warmly, Jake told his peer that the "snake guys" were both together. Correcting the legend, Marella said that Roberts was the only genuine snake guy, Santino merely used a puppet. Sharing a laugh with the veteran, Marella said he also took it as a great compliment that Jake was so friendly to him.
Telling Gill about his happiness over the altercation, Santino stated it's one he will never forget.