WWE Elimination Chamber 2012: Will Santino Marella See a Push or Back to Comedy?

Last night's WWE Elimination Chamber 2012 saw the first main-event title match for everyone's favorite goofball, Santino Marella.

The man with the most exaggerated Italian accent I have ever heard is generally known for his comedy bits backstage, jobbing and beating guys who are being de-pushed, but last night that all changed.

Well, it sort of changed last Friday when he won a Battle Royal to secure the final spot in the Elimination Chamber match filling the vacancy left by Randy Orton.

WWE played up Santino training hard for the match through Rocky-style videos which showed Santino drinking raw eggs, running up a flight of stairs and punching a ham the way Rocky used to punch slabs of beef.

What surprised fans most was his actual performance in the Chamber match; not only did he survive until the very end, but he almost won the whole thing.

At one point he hit The Cobra and went for the pin but Daniel Bryan was able to kick out and eventually apply the LeBell Lock to get the submission, but not until Santino would make a valiant effort to break free from the hold using nothing but sheer force.

Jim Ross posted this message about Santino's performance in the Chamber match.

"

Santino 2nite a great example of talent’s maximizing their minutes on TV/PPV. Santino’s gotten over w/ humor. Fans like him. Simple concept.

"

It's clear that Santino has his supporters in WWE's ranks, but what we don't know yet is how far this will go.

Santino has been used in a comedy fashion for almost his entire run so far, and if WWE were to start pushing him as a main-event player out of the blue it would be too ridiculous to buy.

I like Santino and I feel that WWE needs guys like him to lighten the mood, but I do not think he is in a position to be pushed as a main-eventer yet.

He is a solid worker but he has never had a great push where he dominated over other competitors to become championship material.

If WWE wants to do a slow build for him to maybe challenge for a title in the Summer or the Fall, then I would be OK with that, but if he is all of a sudden pursuing the world title now, I think a lot of people would find the angle too unbelievable.

What do you think: Will Santino get a big push following his performance in the Chamber or will he go back to being the guy who has to smell Natalya's farts?