Santino Marella may have had the worst performance in the history of the Royal Rumble, but his historic 2009 outing was his idea.
Marella was eliminated in one second by Kane when he entered that year’s Royal Rumble match, breaking the Warlord’s record which had stood for 20 years.
On a recent edition of the “Busted Open Radio” podcast, Marella recalled his brief stint in the 2009 Royal Rumble match. He said,
“There were times I was given lemons and I made lemonade, and that was like a perfect example because, during the production meeting, they said, ‘You’re coming out’ whatever number it is, 16, 17, I can’t remember. ‘But, it’s going to be quick. Just so you know, it’s going to be quick.’ And then I said, ‘Okay, no problem. Can we try and break the record?’ I believe it was Dean Malenko [who] was like, ‘Let me get back to you.’ Later in the day, he came back and gave me the thumbs up, and said, ‘Yup, you’re approved to break the record.'”
Marella added that he was nervous about the spot but it was executed perfectly. He added that being featured in Royal Rumble recap videos makes him feel like he still matters in WWE.
After doing some sums, Marella calculated that he was making $27,000,000 per hour, based on how much he earned for his one second in the Royal Rumble match.
