Former WWE Intercontinental, United States, and Tag Team Champion Santino Marella recently spoke to Chill Magazine.

On the procedures he’s had done on his neck: “There’s multiple things wrong with my neck. I had some success with that, but the stenosis has increased to the point where it has to be fixed. I’m not cleared for physical contact due to the severity of my stenosis, but apparently with a double fusion you actually can return to the ring with four to six months of recovery time.”

Making a comeback: “I’m looking forward to getting my surgery within a month and then I will have a four- to six-month recovery in which I will actually attempt to come back in the ring and wrestle again and make one of the greatest, most memorable comebacks of all time. It will be a long comeback, plus I’m going to be 41 years old. I’m just hoping the surgery and the rehab goes perfect and you’ll see me back in the ring sooner than later. SummerSlam is a few months after Wrestlemania, and for us it’s kind of like the halfway point of the season because it’s the second biggest event of the year. I won’t be there. I’m taking care of the neck. But I’ll be there next year.”

Why he wants to return: “I want to come back because of some unfinished business. I believe being the Milan Miracle I have one miracle left. There’s one belt that I haven’t captured, the WWE Championship, and it’s going to require that miracle to do it. On the right day at the right time I can definitely experience capturing that championship. There’s still some good wrestling left in this guy, so that’s what we’re going to try to do.”