5 Things you didn't know about Santino Marella

It's been 12 years since Vince McMahon hand-picked Santino Marella out of a crowd in Milan, Italy to challenge the then-Intercontinental Champion Umaga. Marella scored an upset victory and the Intercontinental Championship to boot in one of the biggest upsets in wrestling history.

Marella would go on to have a successful seven-year WWE run that saw him partner with both Maria Kanellis and Beth Phoenix. He quickly became known for his comedic prowess and provided a decade's worth of slapstick moments for wrestling fans all over the world. This included his run as Santina Marella, his masculine "twin sister," who often unsuccessfully competed in women's matches. Wrestling fans will likely also remember his unforgettable "I wasn't ready" elimination at the 2009 Royal Rumble, as well as his zany finisher: The Cobra.

In a testament to his ability as a performer, most know Marella exclusively as his eccentric WWE character, but there is much more to The Milan Miracle than his over the top mispronunciation of classic phrases like "Can of ass whip."

Marella was recently interviewed by Lilian Garcia on her Chasing Glory podcast and opened up like never before. Get ready to laugh and learn all about Santino Marella in this latest edition of 5 Things You Didn't Know.

#5. Marella did not have an ego & that helped him stand out

Santino Marella was different from many of the wrestlers around him. He kept things in perspective and was always appreciative of what he had been able to accomplish.

Marella also refused to believe in any of his own hype and never got caught up in his own ego.

He told Chasing Glory host Lilian Garcia,

"That was one of the things that made me different. I wasn't one of the guys that had a massive ego and I think that was refreshing for some people - like a lot of the guys, I'm their wife's favorite or I'm their grandma's favorite because everyone's putting on that macho bad ass cool guy and this guy isn't even trying to do that. He's just having fun and being silly. I think that's what made me stand out."

While many wrestlers were reluctant to delve into self-deprecating comedy, Marella's uncanny ability to make light of himself helped him stand out as a character and as a human being.

When other wrestlers sulked and complained about not being able to get over, Marella kept things in perspective,

"There were guys backstage that weren't happy being top guys or whatever. I said, 'Dude, we're professional wrestlers for a living. It's all good, man. It's all good."

#4. His neck injury is worse than you thought it was

Sadly, Santino Marella was forced to retire from a full time in-ring professional wrestling career due to a severe neck injury. The injury kept Marella sidelined for the latter part of his WWE run and inevitably led to his 2016 release.

Marella admitted that the neck injury wasn't anything new and he had struggled with it for most of his adult life. His nagging injury concerns were a near-constant problem for Marella during his professional wrestling career, but the situation grew dire as his flare-ups became more frequent and closer in succession.

Marella recalls being unable to compete at a WWE live event,

"I fell asleep in the car for a second....and then I was warming up and I was like, 'I can't move it at all.' If I moved it one centimeter in any direction there was a nerve shock. I couldn't move it, so I had to tell a doctor that I couldn't move my neck at all. That was the last straw."

The very next day, Marella found himself in a collar and booked for surgery. The expectation was for a full recovery and a return to the wrestling ring, but things didn't work out according to plan,

"There was a freak accident where a couple screws came out and they were loosening and one turned. If it punctured my neck from the inside, it would have been really bad. This was three months after surgery, so they had to cut and go in again, and take out the titanium and the screws. That one really messed it up worse. If we didn't have to go back in, I'm hoping it would have been OK, but after that, it just never got well enough."

#3. Marella is a Judo expert

Josh Barnett recently announced that Santino Marella would compete at Bloodsport II, an event billed as a smorgasbord of mixed martial arts and professional wrestling. Barnett tweeted the following about the former WWE Superstar, "From Judo to Battlearts and MMA, this man has all the credentials for Bloodsport."

The news came as a shock to most fans, who were unaware of Marella's extensive judo experience. Motivated by Bruce Lee movies, Marella began training in judo at the young age of nine. Marella signed up for classes and quickly fell in love with the sport, "That was it. It gets in your blood."

Marella competed in Judo Ontario, Judo Canada, and various other tournaments. He event competed in judo at the collegiate level in Montreal, as part of Canada's National Team. Marella inevitably chose a carer in sports entertainment, but credits judo with helping him fast track the physical parts of professional wrestling.

#2. He isn't exclusively Italian

While Santino's over the top WWE character would have you believe that he is a true underdog from Milan, Italy, who rose from rags to riches with a thick accent and a flair for the comedic, that isn't exactly true.

Born Anthony Carelli, Marella is indeed Italian. His father emigrated to Canada from Italy, but the former WWE Superstar grew up speaking English and doesn't have an Italian accent. The accent was all for television, something Marella picked up from living in a cultural melting pot just outside Toronto.

The first generation Canadian considers himself a representation of the city he grew up in,

"About 50% of the city's population are immigrants, so I'm half immigrant, just like that. Two significant population groups are indigenous people and French Canadian people and that's my mom's side. I'm really a representation of the Canadian population."

Marella was so convincing with his WWE Milan Miracle character that most Canadians didn't even know he was from the Great White North. After his WWE career ended, Marella found himself reacclimating himself to his native country,

"I was working on my national presence in Canada because a lot of Canadians didn't know I was Canadian. I was Santino from Italy. I see people here that are like, 'What are you doing in Mississauga?' I'm like, 'I was born and raised here, man.' Then they're like, 'What's wrong with your voice?' [laughter] It was actually a really good transition."

#1. Marella didn't really know how to speak Italian

Legendary WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes told Santino Marella that if WWE asks you to do something and you don't necessarily know how to do it, just fake it until you make it. That's exactly what Marella did when asked if he knew how to speak Italian.

Santino was interested in learning the language before WWE ever came calling and would listen to audiotapes on long car journeys,

"I didn't really know how to speak Italian, but I could say things on the tape. When they called, they said, 'You're Italian right? Can you say something in Italian?'"

Marella did his best and responded with, "Voglio comprare mezzo chilo di formaggio." The phrase literally means, "I want to buy a half kilo of cheese."

Marella told Lilian Garcia,

"I could hear them looking around at each other going, 'I don't know. It sounded pretty good.'"

The phrase sold the powers that be in WWE, who flew Santino Marella to Milan, Italy. Two days later he would defeat Umaga for the Intercontinental Championship and the rest is history.

Readers may listen to Lilian Garcia's full interview with Santino Marella below: