WWE News: NBA Star Jeremy Lin the Reason Behind Santino Marella's Push?

Santino Marella is far and away the most hilarious performer on the WWE roster, one who’s gotten over solely on his comedic ability. 

As talented and charismatic as Santino may be, however, he has never been viewed as a potential main-eventer because his character is a bit too goofy to be taken seriously in the main event scene. 

Well, that was until recently when Santino has found himself in a much bigger role on Raw and SmackDown, even competing in an Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship. Many have been wondering where Santino’s recent push is coming from, and as it turns out, the inspiration for his current character stems from the recent success of a now universally known NBA star. 

From F4Wonline.com (via WrestleNewz.com): 

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WWE has been pushing Santino Marella as the underdog lately to play off the hype surrounding New York Knicks star Jeremy Lin. It was said that Santino got his Elimination Chamber spot because of Randy Orton’s injury and Jeremy Lin’s popularity. 

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While I am typically not a fan of the WWE’s stereotypical underdog story (see John Cena and Rey Mysterio), it’s hard not to get behind Santino as the WWE’s version of Jeremy Lin. 

Lin has taken the sports world by storm as the ultimate underdog, someone who went undrafted out of college, was cut by two teams and spent some time in the D-League before exploding onto the scene with the Knicks a few weeks back. 

While Lin’s story is not exactly like that of Santino, there are certainly similarities between the two. They are both guys who were overlooked and probably were never taken very seriously, yet they’ve managed to exceed anyone’s expectations. 

I like that Lin’s success has inspired the WWE to use Santino in a bigger role because he deserves it about as much as anybody. Santino has gotten over big-time based purely on his comedic skills, and it’s great to see him get rewarded for being the funniest man in pro wrestling. 

Whereas Lin’s success might very well continue for years to come, I don’t think Santino will be in such a high-profile role for too much longer. 

But while he is, I’m definitely going to enjoy the ride.

Drake Oz is a WWE Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter and ask him any wrestling-related questions on Formspring.