What’s the story?
In a recent interview with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, former WWE superstar Santino Marella spoke about who he wants to be the winner of this year’s Royal Rumble and also discussed some of his memorable moments from the match over the years including his record for the shortest appearance.
In case you didn’t know…
During the years that he spent as a performer for the WWE, Marella participated in a number of Royal Rumble matches, starting from the one in 2008 where he was eliminated in 25 seconds by The Undertaker. In the 2009 Rumble match, the Canadian wrestler rewrote the record books when he beat The Warlord’s 1989 record of being eliminated in just 2 seconds by clocking 1.9 seconds between his entry and exit. However, Santino did put together a credible performance in the 2011 Royal Rumble when he became the last man to be eliminated by the winner of the match, Alberto Del Rio.
The heart of the matter
Giving his thoughts on the possible winner of this year’s Royal Rumble, Santino Marella said that he wants Brock Lesnar to win the match after eliminating The Undertaker last. However, he expressed his concern about many of the other big names in this year’s match not winning. The former WWE Intercontinental Champion said:
“I love Brock Lesnar and hope he wins. I’d have him eliminate Undertaker at the end. That would be a good swerve. Everyone would think Undertaker was going to get his revenge on Brock, and then Brock would eliminate him, as to say, ‘Not today’. But there are a lot of big names in the Rumble, which means there will be all these big names who don’t win.”
About his record for the shortest Royal Rumble appearance, Marella hoped that it remains intact for a long time. He claimed to know a way using which the record could be broken but he is not willing to share it with anyone. Here’s what Santino had to say:
“Hopefully that record stands for a long time. I actually know how to beat it, but I’m not going to tell anybody. I found a way to shave off half a second, but I don’t want anyone else to beat it.”
He further explained why he was able to register a shorter time than The Warlord. According to Santino Marella, he had his technique in place wherein he would slide into the ring and pop up with Kane meeting him at the perfect time and there was very little margin for error. However, he feels he can do it in a second and a half as well. This is what Marella told Sports Illustrated:
“I knew the Warlord’s record was beatable. There was no sense of urgency in the way he entered the ring. When I broke the record, I had my technique down: I was going to slide under, pop up, and Kane was going to meet me at the right time. I had very little room for error, but I found a way to even beat my record. I think I could do it in about a second-and-a-half.”
What next?
While Santino Marella may have picked his favourite to win the Royal Rumble, the sheer number of big names involved in this year’s match makes it difficult to predict a winner. Come 29 January, though, all speculations surrounding the match will be put to rest as one out of the 30 participants will grab a once in a lifetime opportunity to headline WrestleMania.
Sportskeeda’s Take
Considering what we saw of Brock Lesnar on the most recent episode of Raw, Santino may not have made a bad choice in terms of picking the winner of the 2017 Royal Rumble match.
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