Santino Marella reveals stunning details about his WWE debut

Santino Marella made one of the most iconic WWE debuts when he won the Intercontinental Championship. Marella pinned Umaga with help from Bobby Lashley to win the title on his first night with the promotion.

It was a shock for the WWE Universe when Anthony Carelli, or Santino Marella, jumped the barricade and accepted Vince McMahon's open challenge for the title.

On an occasion now fondly remembered as the "Milan Miracle," Santino, who had been working in OVW, was called up to WWE specifically thanks to his Italian heritage.

Carelli opened up about the moments leading up to his championship win on Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette. He specifically recalled his meeting with Vince McMahon, and how he thought he lost his chance because he got lost in the crowd.

"[The] show kinda started and they brought me out to my seat and it was the first segment I think, or may be a couple of segments in. Anyway, Vince's music hits and the fans rushed the barricade and I'm now six-seven people back, and I think he's not gonna see me. Then the fans filter back and he introduces Umaga and they run again and I think, 'Oh my God! I missed it again!' And now I'm eight people back and then he issues the open challenge and I was there first, and he saw me and it worked out," said Santino Marella.

Anthony Carelli aka @milanmiracle is fantastic in this interview. So candid about the trouble he got into growing up, his love of judo, having his first daughter at a very young age, and making his jump to @wwe to become one of the most beloved superstars. Check it out now!! https://t.co/vgVMpRJC9V

— Renee Paquette (@ReneePaquette) July 20, 2021

It was an important moment for Carelli especially since it was in Milan, Italy, that kicked off his WWE career.

Santino Marella had a string of victories following his debut

Following his amazing victory, Santino Marella found much success and had a string of victories over a number of WWE's top superstars. The list included the likes of Chris Masters and Shelton Benjamin.

Marella defeated Masters four times and managed to roll up a very popular Shelton Benjamin once.

However, his string of victories did not sit well with the WWE Universe who could not believe that a random crowd member was capable of such success. This would eventually lead to Marella's comedic and memorable heel turn.

This pic was not taken at my highest point, I was still ascending, almost touched it too, almost 🤓 https://t.co/HvKCFNBNQq

— Santino Marella (@milanmiracle) May 5, 2020

Santino Marella will always be remembered in WWE. He is currently a martial arts and pro-wrestling instructor. Hopefully we will see him back in WWE soon.