Don't let Santino's role as the resident clown of the WWE fool you. There's more legit skills hiding behind that doofy Cobra Strike than you may think. Prior to putting a green sock puppet on his hand and swearing off tweezers, Santino trained in shoot wrestling (also known as catch wrestling) at Japan's famous Battlarts school, where he honed his wrestling skills while also learning elements of mixed martial arts. Then he briefly went on to give MMA an honest try in 2004, and claims to hold a 6-1 record. ...Although the only official documentation from Santino's MMA career is a single match, which he lost less than 30 seconds when he got knocked out by Takashi Ishino. So maybe he didn't exactly excel during his time as an MMA fighter, but at least he gave it a shot. And to be fair, he now runs the Battle Arts Academy, which teaches a blend of pro wrestling and mixed martial arts.
