He may not have been a main event superstar, he may not have even been a mid-card superstar, but Santino Marella was certainly an entertaining figure in WWE.

His amusing pronunciations, his comic walk around the ring, and the fact his finisher was a snake puppet, gave the WWE Universe something to laugh about whenever he was in the ring.

However, two years ago in 2014 during a house show, Marella officially announced his retirement from WWE after having to undergo surgery on a neck injury.

Not only was it a serious neck injury, it was the third of his career, meaning that his time in the squared circle was certainly over.

Marella continued to make the odd appearance throughout 2014 and 2015, but earlier this year, he was officially released by WWE after his role with the company got smaller and smaller.

Although he may not be a Hall of Famer in the future, Marella had a relatively successful career in WWE, winning four titles, including the Intercontinental Championship on two occasions.

So, despite being a comic character, he did enjoy some success with WWE and will hold fond memories of his time with the company.

However, one memory he won’t be fond of is the moment he knew he had to retire.

Whilst doing an interview on ‘Main Event Radio’, Marella was discussing the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, and he was talking about Roman Reigns vs Rusev, who battled it out for the United States Championship.

After giving his thoughts on the two, Marella then revealed that it was, in fact, Rusev that forced him to retire.

He said: “Rusev was my final opponent/match, his camel clutch was the straw that broke this camel’s back.

“It aggravated my neck where I couldn’t move it at all. Was the end of the line; couldn’t do it anymore.”