10 Pro-wrestlers with an MMA background

#1 Santino Marella

Santino was a judo specialist

Santino Marella will always be remembered as one of the most successful comical gimmicks in WWE. His performance earned him a lot of praise and at the same time, he had a few championship runs as well. While Santino was exclusively portrayed as a goofy character in the WWE, he is someone who does have a solid background in MMA as well.

Before ending up in the WWE developmental territory, Santino was a judo specialist. He had a memorable stay in Japan but thanks to some visa problems, Santino had to return and found his place in the wrestling business later on.