WWE In Italy: One Of WWE’s Wildest Debuts & Title Wins

WWE is hosting the first ever Italian PLE in the company’s history in 2026, with this being one the few times overall that WWE has ever held a show in the country. There have been a couple of events in Italy here and there over the years, one of which being an episode of Monday Night RAW in Milan all the way back in 2007. This show would feature one of the wildest debuts and title changes in the entire history of WWE’s red brand, as a “fan” was plucked from the crowd to become the brand new Intercontinental Champion in a crazy moment.

Monday Night RAW Was Held In Italy

• WWE broadcasted a live show from Italy for the first time in over a decade.
• The show took place in Milan in front of a raucous audience.
• John Cena, Edge, Randy Orton, and more were in action.

It is pretty rare that WWE heads over to Italy for anything significant outside of live events, which made it particularly notable that for the first time in over ten years, a live broadcast would take place in the country. In the week commencing April 16, 2007, WWE hosted Monday Night RAW, ECW on SciFi, and Friday Night SmackDown in Milan, Italy, taking over the DutchForum. Across these shows, WWE featured matches such as Randy Orton & Edge vs. John Cena, The Undertaker vs. Mr. Kennedy, Batista vs. Finlay, Deuce & Domino winning the WWE Tag Team Championships from Brian Kendrick & Paul London, and the World’s Greatest Tag Team battling Ric Flair & Carlito.

None of these shows were anything particularly special, feeling like your typical weekly episodes of WWE programming, just with a more raucous crowd than usual. To kick things off, WWE pulled off one of the strangest and more unique debuts of all time.

Vince McMahon Selected Santino Marella To Face Umaga

• Santino Marella debuted in WWE as a “fan”.
• He was handpicked by Vince McMahon to wrestle Intercontinental Champion Umaga.
• This was a unique way to debut a new character on WWE programming.

To open up Monday Night RAW in Milan, Vince McMahon emerged with Intercontinental Champion Umaga and his manager Armando Estrada, hyping the build to Backlash 2007 where McMahon, Umaga and Shane McMahon were scheduled to wrestle Bobby Lashley for the ECW Championship (yep, that did happen). Donning a fedora to cover his bald head, McMahon stated that Italians smell bad (yep, that also happened), accused Italian customs of blocking Lashley’s entry into the country, and issued an IC Title open challenge on behalf of Umaga. No one stepped up, leading to McMahon taking desperate measures.

In the crowd, asking to compete, was a planted “fan” in a brown shirt and bright red shoes. He introduced himself as Santino Marella and received an enormous ovation from the Italian crowd, agreeing to a hold harmless contract to compete on RAW. The crowd chanted his name as McMahon brought a referee down to the ring. Marella removed his shirt to reveal a pretty good build (given that he was already competing in WWE’s developmental system) as the referee rang the bell, beginning a bizarre debut match.

Santino Marella Defeated Umaga To Win The Intercontinental Title In Italy

• Bobby Lashley interfered in this match.
• Marella won the match after Lashley helped him
• Marella went on to become one of WWE’s most memorable comedic acts.

Santino Marella came out of the gate hot, taking to Umaga with a flurry of strikes and kicks, using his speed to duck out of the way of Umaga’s advances. Marella came close to a victory with a quick roll-up, until McMahon entered the ring and put a stop to a potential upset, giving this match a No Holds Barred stipulation. Umaga took a cheap shot and began beating down Marella, decimating him with several big moves. However, just as Umaga climbed the top rope to issue a devastating splash, Bobby Lashley arrived to throw him from the top rope, hit him with a chairshot to the head, and deliver a huge spear, before dragging Marella over the top of Umaga to give him one of the most shocking victories on RAW to date.

Marella was crowned as the brand new Intercontinental Champion, getting his hand raised by Lashley. With no entrance music, he celebrated in front of a passionate crowd to kick off his WWE career. He would go on to become a mainstay in WWE for years to come, winning the United States Title, another Intercontinental Title, and the WWE Tag Team Championships (and even coming runner-up in a Royal Rumble match!) as one of WWE’s more beloved comedy characters.