10 WWE Stars Who Would Be Nothing Without Their Props
9. Santino Marella's Cobra Sock
Santino Marella overachieved from the second he jumped the guard rail to defeat Umaga for the Intercontinental Championship (via Bobby Lashley assist) in 2007.
The real life Anthony Carelli had been cutting his teeth for a couple of years in OVW and showed real potential as a performer despite being slapped by Jim Cornette for laughing at The Boogeyman when he was supposed to be acting afraid (an incident that would eventually lead to Cornette's firing from the company). However, in that moment the few in the vicinity had bared witness to what was to come.
Though always entertaining as the jealous boyfriend to Maria Kanellis or Beth Phoenix, something perplexing happened when out of nowhere he erected his arm and sculpted it in three short, direct movements to create a cobra which would strike his opponents for the finish.
The move would eventually evolve (needing a cobra sock puppet to be at its most effective) and got him moved up to the upper mid-card. 2012 proved to be his pivotal year, including a 'sock-off' with Mick Foley at the Royal Rumble and an entire arena rooting for him to be the victor in the final two of the Elimination Chamber.
Who could've guessed that a man, once slapped for laughing at a worm eater, would be using a green sock puppet to almost win a World Championship?