12 OTHER Major WWE Title Changes Outside North America

2. Santino Marella Wins IC Title - Milan, Italy (2007)

D Generation X Shawn Michaels European Title
WWE.com

Who could forget the Milan Miracle?

In 2007, Vince McMahon was stomping around Monday Night Raw, engaging in a battle of (purported) billionaires with Donald Trump (remember when he was a TV personality and somewhat fictional character?) and losing his hair. After WrestleMania 23, McMahon and Intercontinental Champion Umaga were trying to reassert themselves when WWE traveled to Italy.

It was in Milan that McMahon decided to pluck an audience member to get an IC title shot. He tapped nobody Santino Marella to battle the near-unstoppable Umaga in a no holds barred match, a stipulation that would come back to bite the chairman.

Bobby Lashley came out to assist Marella, taking out Umaga and helping to hold the Samoan Bulldozer down for a three count, giving Santino his first WWE championship – in his debut match, no less.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.