At WrestleMania XXVI, Santino Marella competed in the 26-man battle royale dark match, won by Yoshi Tatsu He then tried to form a tag team with Vladimir Kozlov, who repeatedly refused the offer. On the May 31 episode of "Raw", Kozlov interfered in Marella's match, helping him win. On the July 19 "Raw", they finally teamed to defeat William Regal and Zack Ryder. At Night of Champions, Marella and Kozlov wrestled a Tag Team Turmoil match for the Unified Tag Team Championship, won by Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre.