A viable main eventer? I think it's worth a try at least. Photo Credit: WWE.com |
It wasn't the first time Santino had gotten that kind of reaction. Hell, in fact, ever since he turned face, he's been getting some of the loudest pops of any face in the company despite the fact that he doesn't win every match he's in and he's basically booked as comedy fodder. You could argue that the kids love him, but you don't get the reactions that Santino gets just by kids screaming and yelling. I know it's anecdotal, but I know a few people who love Santino, namely two guys who read this blog in Jake Duvall (who thinks that Santino and John Cena should switch places unironically) and Travis Beaven (who brought the now-famous Obama-esque Santino "Hope" sign to No Way Out 2009). It really makes me wonder if he can carry a main event program by himself and not tank ratings or buyrates.
I mean, yeah, crowd reactions sometimes don't correlate to money. If that were the case, then the New Age Outlaws would have been 10 time World Champions between the two of them. There is such a thing as midcard over and OVER. Curt Hennig was midcard over, as referenced by his infamous house show dud run against Hogan in the late '80s/early '90s. But is Santino just midcard over? I mean, he's never really been given a high profile feud to work without. Sure, there've been funny, spotlighted comedy gimmicks like the Honk-a-Meter, Glamarella, Santina and the like, but he hasn't really gotten the kind of exposure that even someone like del Rio has gotten.
Until now.
That spot at the end of the Royal Rumble was very, very telling. The crowd was hot all night long, and when they didn't die for the end and instead erupted for the Cobra, it told me that Santino might just be able to carry a one-to-three month mini program against someone like The Miz or Sheamus or Randy Orton or del Rio in the vein of what they're doing right now with Miz and Jerry Lawler. I mean, there are pops and there are POPS, and it sounded to me that Santino got a POP.
That's what makes it all the more frustrating to see the WWE handle the "return match" with such ham-fisted clumsiness last night. Dave Lagana said it on Twitter, and I concur with him; they could have advertised that del Rio/Santino match further in advance than the segment before it happened. It could have meant something more than what it was, maybe a spike in ratings, especially since that was in a quarter hour that's known for doldrums. Hell, they made it a point to hype Mr. McMahon's return to television, and all he did was make an announcement that there was going to be an announcement next week. Seriously? Hell, they could have parlayed that even into a PPV match, although to be fair, Elimination Chamber *sigh* will sell itself with two EC matches as well as a red-hot Miz/Lawler title bout.
I think it's definitely worth a shot to see Santino get an elevation. At worst, a main event run flops and you know you have a solid midcard attraction, something that is vitally needed in any fed. At best, hell, you may have someone who can help improve ratings, buyrates and house show gates. I mean, yeah, it's a Boston crowd, and Boston crowds are traditionally among the better fanbases in the nation, but it's not like they're a mix of plants and Pavlovian mouthbreathers like you have at the Impact Zone. That's a real live, legitimate wrestling crowd, and they would have lost their shit if Santino Marella had won the Royal Rumble. I mean, the signs can't be ANY clearer than that to give him a green light push into the main event, can they?
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