Ever since Elimination Chamber (maybe even before – it’s past midnight and I don’t have time to dig through the GB&U archives), I’ve been complaining about WWE not doing anything with Santino Marella. He’s the best comedy wrestler in the business today, but unlike most comedy wrestlers, he can actually make fans care about the outcome of the match, not just laugh at it. Moving the United States Title belt from Jack Swagger to Santino was a super-smart move on WWE’s part, as Swagger is going nowhere fast, and Santino is so outrageously over with any crowd he competes in front of.
I was even OK with having the GM storyline grafted onto this match. Sure, I would have liked for Santino’s win not to have been eclipsed by the three dozen other people at ringside, but you take what you can get, and it’s better than having the GM storyline devour a WWE Champion vs. World Heavyweight Champion match like last week. That said, if WWE thinks they needed to combine Santino’s win with the GM story to make people care about it, they are out of their minds, as Santino holds the crowd in the palm of his sock-puppet-covered hand pretty much every time he hits the ring. I might be foolishly optimistic, but I’m very excited about Santino’s title run.
