7. He Counts His United States Title Victory As His Biggest Achievement
WWE.comEven though he has won the Intercontinental Title on two different occasions, Santino feels his United States Title win might be the biggest achievement he has had with WWE, citing the company's faith in him after all these years, and that he won it with his own merits. If you remember, his first Intercontinental Title reign was in his first match on the main roster, where he was a "fan" in the crowd, got picked at random, got beat up by Umaga for a while, and then had the pin after Bobby Lashley came out and helped him. His second reign came at SummerSlam 2008, in a "Winner Takes All" match, where he teamed with Beth Phoenix to face Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston and Women's Champion Mickie James. Phoenix would pin James, winning the Women's Title for herself and the Intercontinental Title for Santino in the process. Both reigns brought on by screwy booking, but with his United States Title win, it validated his spot in the company, and showed that he was still a worthy piece of the puzzle after all his years of hard work. Yes, the match ending came because of some ringside distractions by Teddy Long and John Laurinaitis fighting, but it still showed his work was worthwhile, and the crowd pop for his victory only solidified everything.