Only name that comes to mind from that time from Italy that was prominent on TV was Dario Minieri. He was hyper-aggressive, and always wore a scarf, and Norman Chad would refer to him as the Harry Potter of poker because of the scarves. Was it him?
I played in a wsop Circuit event one time against a guy who had won a bracelet event at the WSOP. I can't remember his name, but he was wearing the bracelet at the table and another dude at our table recognized him. Seemed like a nice guy, too.
"Jesus" Chris Ferguson back in the day when he did his bankroll challenge on Full Tilt. I miss those good ole days in the US when we had more than 2 or 3 sites. He was super nice and chatted with the folks at the tables.