The discussion surrounding wrestlers who deserved to be a World Champion in WWE but never were is a common one that will go on forever. Roddy Piper, Jake Roberts, Curt Hennig, and Vader are just a few of the names who almost always come up when discussing that topic. Odds are neither you nor the fans you talk about this with ever bring up Santino Marella. However, there was a very brief moment in 2012 when it felt as if every wrestling fan in the world wanted Marella to win the World Title.

Santino's Chamber

That moment happened during an Elimination Chamber match on the PPV of the same name. Marella's journey began in a battle royal prior to the show. A match to determine who would replace Randy Orton in the chamber who had suffered a concussion at the hands of Daniel Bryan who was also in the match. The WWE Universe collectively shrugged at the addition of Marella as almost no one would have seen him as a viable contender to win it and become World Champion, especially with WrestleMania on the horizon.

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Even when Marella's pod opened and he entered the match, interest in him was low. Big Show took him out almost immediately and shifted his focus to Superstars who actually had a chance of winning. It wasn't until Show had been eliminated that the tide started to turn and fans started to think Marella might have a chance. The faux Italian pinned and eliminated Cody Rhodes and then did the same to Wade Barrett.

That left just Marella and Bryan to duke it out for the World Title which was held by the latter at the time. Nine years on, it's hard to imagine a time when Bryan wasn't the fan favorite whenever he entered a ring. This match came two years before his meteoric rise that culminated at WrestleMania XXX. It was actually the WrestleMania match later this same year in which Bryan lost to Sheamus in a matter of seconds that started to make fans think maybe Bryan deserved better.

On this night though, at Elimination Chamber, the fans in attendance, and those watching around the world, if they were anything like me, were not in Bryan's corner. The defending World Champion chuckled and gestured at Bryan, suggesting that he pretty much already had the match won. A fired-up Marella then started to give Bryan as good as he got, and the fans started to rally. Marella rolled up Bryan for a near fall, the first time he would have fans out of their seats that night.

Marella Made Fans Believe

Marella had eliminated Rhodes and Barrett using rollups, a great example of subtly telling a story within a match and having fans think he could make it a hat trick through Bryan and win the World Title. The biggest moment of the match came shortly after that when Marella performed his finisher The Cobra on Bryan. The World Champion kicked out just in time, by which point the crowd was incredibly riled up.

A shocked Marella's inexperience at WWE's top table then got the better of him, Bryan quickly recovered and got the former Intercontinental Champion in the LeBell Lock. Marella attempted to rally and almost broke out of the submission, generating the loudest crowd reaction of the night in the process. Marella breaking out could well have signified he might really win. His attempt to keep the match going fell short, and right after he fell back to the mat Marella reluctantly tapped out.

Sheamus would rush the chamber after the match, attacking Bryan and setting up their match at WrestleMania later that year. The Marella push would effectively end there, minutes after it had begun. Marella was largely a comedy wrestler while in WWE and was probably never truly considered for even the shortest of World Title runs. However, it should never be forgotten that for a few glorious minutes, every WWE fan would have been over the moon to see Marella lift the World Title.

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