WWE Elimination Chamber 2012: Why Santino Deserves His Spot in the Chamber

When I first saw the spoiler reports for tonight's Friday Night SmackDown broadcast, to say I was surprised would be an understatement.

Santino Marella, long-time comedy act and bit-player in the grand scheme of things, won a battle royal to earn the spot in Sunday's Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship vacated by the injured Randy Orton.

My reaction was not dissimilar from that of the collective wrestling fan base. After all, why would the guy most known for a unibrow, fake Italian accent and snake puppet be put into a world championship match on the last pay-per-view on the road to WrestleMania?

The fact of the matter is that SmackDown's talent roster is depleted. Either through injury or a simple lack of star power, there was little choice for Orton's replacement.

Perhaps United States Champion, and RAW Superstar, Jack Swagger could have slid into the spot but his television presence has been nonexistent of late, appearing exclusively on WWE.com's Superstars instead. Ted DiBiase or Hunico could fit, being SmackDown regulars, but neither is quite over enough to warrant inclusion.

Santino has been a fixture on WWE television for five years. He has done everything asked of him during that half-decade, including sharing the screen with celebrity guest hosts and often being the butt of many jokes.

He remains incredibly over with the WWE fans despite his lengthy tenure with the company and does his best to pull off the comedy scripted for him, even if that comedy is terrible. Whether any so-called "smart" fan (myself included) wants to admit it or not, Santino Marella is still relevant within the "WWE Universe." He is more over than Swagger, DiBiase and Hunico and is a favorite of even the most casual of viewers.

It is not like Santino stands a chance at winning the World Heavyweight Championship. Like a seat-filler at next Sunday's Oscars, Santino is merely filling a spot. A spot he has earned through hard work.

He is the definition of a company man, filling the role he was given, even if it is not where he saw himself when he broke into the business. He will be eliminated early, and likely will not have a WrestleMania match.

So at the end of the day, his inclusion in the Elimination Chamber match will be a career highlight for him and a fun piece of trivia for everyone else.

On a side note, I would not be surprised if Santino does not even make it into the chamber. In the past, we have seen Superstars attacked prior to the match, only for another Superstar to take his spot. Reports indicate there is a certain CAPTAIN ready to return any day now and spread his CHARISMA throughout WWE. Anything can happen on a WWE pay-per-view event.