10 Great WWE Superstars You Didn’t Know Were Not Americans

4.Santino Marella

For the majority of his career in WWE, Santino Marella was billed as being from Calabria, Italy, and made his main roster debut at a Raw taping in Milan. On his debut, Marella defeated Umaga for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, and his comedic antics immediately made him a hit with WWE fans all over the world.

Given that we are in the “reality era” of professional wrestling, it is no secret that Santino Marella is not actually from Italy. Marella, real name Anthony Carelli, hails from Ontario Canada, much like Trish Stratus and Renee Young. Prior to settling on his lovable Italian oaf gimmick, Carelli portrayed a number of other foreign characters, including a mixed martial artist from Russia. Marella still has ties to Ontario, and in 2013 his daughter was crowned Miss Teen Ontario-World. Towards the end of that year, Marella opened Battle Arts Academy, a wrestling and MMA training school located in his hometown.

5.Emma

Though she was a mainstay of WWE’s developmental brand NXT, Emma’s time on the main roster has been continuously cut short. After her initial main roster debut in 2014, Emma was sent back to developmental after failing to connect with the audience. Back in NXT, she tweaked her character and became one of the brand’s top female heels before returning to the main roster in early 2016. In her second stint as a Raw competitor, Emma performed at WrestleMania and seemed ready for a push before she was put out of action with a back injury in May.

Because her time on the main roster has been so frequently interrupted, much of the WWE Universe have not had the opportunity to get to know Emma. Those who have not seen her cut a promo or make a full entrance are likely unaware of the fact that she is from Victoria, Australia, where she performed during the early years of her career. Emma relocated to Orlando, Florida after signing her WWE contract in order to begin her training with the company, and has resided there ever since.

6.Rocky Johnson

Rocky Johnson was born in Nova Scotia in 1944, to James and Lillian Bowles. He was the fourth of five sons and moved to Toronto at the age of 16 with dreams of becoming a boxer. While training, Johnson sparred with both Muhammad Ali andGeorge Foreman; but as he went on, he found himself more and more drawn to the world of professional wrestling (probably because he didn’t want to keep sparring Muhammad Ali and George Foreman).

During his time wrestling in the United States of America, Johnson met Ata Maivia, the daughter of “High Chief” Pete Maivia, and the pair wed shortly after.

7.Kane

The Big Red Machine” Kane is one of the longest tenured performers on the WWE roster and has held countless titles throughout his career. Before taking the Kane persona, Glenn Jacobs portrayed a number of less-successful characters, including the fake Diesel which WWE offered as a cheap replacement for Kevin Nash after he went to WCW in 1996.

As Kane, Jacobs has always been billed as being from Parts Unknown, a land from which some of WWE’s most mysterious performers have hailed. His kayfabe half-brother, The Undertaker, has been billed from both Death Valley and Houston, Texas.

However, Glenn Jacobs is, in reality, from none of those three places. In fact, Jacobs was not even born in the United States of America. The man who would become Kane was born in 1967 in Madrid, Spain. Jacobs’ parents were members of the United States Air Force and were stationed in Spain at the time of his birth. The family returned to America shortly after and Jacobs received his education in the States.

Despite the fact he was born outside the country, Jacobs is heavily involved in American politics and is a staunch libertarian.

8.Norman Smiley

Norman Smiley is today employed as one of the foremost trainers at WWE’s Performance Center and has been responsible for training some of the finest talent on the NXT and WWE rosters at the moment. Prior to his career with WWE, Smiley was a member of the WCW locker room, where he played a comedic character who competed in the company’s hardcore division despite his fear of being hit by weapons.

Those who are familiar with Smiley’s work in WCW might be unaware that he was actually quite a capable in-ring performer during his early days, and exhibited much of the talent we are used to seeing from English-born competitors. That’s right, Norman Smiley was born in Northampton, England. However, Smiley did not stick around to be trained among the William Regals and The British Bulldogs of the era and instead emigrated to Miami, Florida shortly after his parents divorced.

Despite the fact he spent the majority of his life in the United States of America, Smiley was billed as being from London, England for much of his career.

9.Madusa

Although she achieved her greatest in the World Wrestling Federation under the name Alundra Blayze, I include Madusa here under her non-WWF monicker as she once (infamously insisted) that was and always had been her name.

Despite the fact that Madusa now partakes in the most American of sports, demolition derby (professional wrestling is a close second), she is, in fact, a native of Italy. Madusa was born in Milan, Italy in 1964. However, she spent much of her childhood being moved from foster home to foster home around Minneapolis, Minnesota. Madusa began seeking a better life at an early age and worked a number of jobs in order to earn a decent living. During the early days of her pro wrestling career, she even supported herself by working as a nurse. Madusa now resides in Citrus County, Florida, where she operates a pet grooming business when not crushing cars with larger cars.

10.Stan Stasiak

The Quebec-born Stasiak moved to the United States of America in the 70s and signed with Vince McMahon Sr.’s World Wide Wrestling Federation. It was in the final month of 1973 that Stasiak achieved his greatest success in the squared-circle, when he defeated Pedro Morales for the WWWF Championship, a title which Morales had held for three years. Unfortunately for Stasiak, he was nothing more than a transitional champion, as the company wanted to put the belt back on “The Living Legend” Bruno Sammartino, but needed a heel champion for him to defeat. After dropping the championship to Bruno, Stasiak’s star began to fade and he retired from the wrestling business in 1984. After stepping out of the limelight, he relocated to Toronto, Canada and took a job as a shopping mall security guard. His son, Shawn Staskiak, spent some time wrestling for WWE in the early naughties, where he was billed as being from “Planet Stasiak.”