Santino Marella On When He Learned He Was Winning Intercontinental Championship
Former WWE star Santino Marella joined Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw to talk about his wrestling career, including his improbable WWE Intercontinental Championship victory on his first night on WWE RAW in Milan, Italy on April 16, 2007. Dubbed the "Milan Miracle", Santino Marella revealed when he learned he would be getting the title.
"In the middle of a tour," Marella revealed. "So I'm in the hotel by myself. I get there Sunday and I'm just kind of walking around Milan, and then everyone gets there Sunday night in the buses and then we go to TV. So I walk on the bus and some guys, Shawn Michaels thought I was like a local, just a guy. Just a regular guy.
"And then I walk in and Double-A, I met Double-A back in OVW. He's walking out of the production meeting, you know, with the script rolled up and he goes, 'you having a good day, kid? You're winning the IC strap.' And I'm like 'IC strap, that can only mean one thing. Is this, like, what? What did he just say?' And then somebody called me and said Vince wants to meet you."
Santino Marella described his meeting with Vince McMahon as a good one, and everything was then set for his historic night. The only problem, according to Marella, was making sure he was noticed in the crowd, where he was stationed as a plant.
"Vince turned around, gave me his undivided attention," Marella said. "We had a great conversation and it was awesome, man. You know, we went out there, it was Michael Hayes, Umaga, just kind of talking through and it was just crazy. So they planted me in the audience. You know, I had a reserved seat, and then when Vince's music hits, like hundreds of people rushed to barricades and I'm like, 'oh geez.' I didn't rush because I didn't know they were going to do that. So now I'm like seven people deep and I'm like, 'oh my God, he's not going to see me. Like, I have to be in the front.' Then they kind of filter back. Then Umaga comes out and they rush back again, 'oh my God, I MISSED it again.' And I'm still seven or eight people back, there's no way he's going to see me waving amongst all these people. So finally, when the time came and he said, 'how about here, anybody here wants to fight this guy?' I was like, I made sure I was at the front and pushed my way through so he saw me."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Stories With Briscoe and Bradshaw with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription