By Nathan P Hunt
(This article was originally posted on the 'GetRealWrestling' website in July 2014, but was moved here after that site closed.)
Anthony Carelli, the WWE superstar known to fans throughout the world as Santino Marella, has announced that he is retiring from pro wrestling at only 35 years old due to a series of neck injuries sustained throughout his career.
Anthony Carelli is known as being legitimately tough, having competed in MMA prior to signing with WWE (apparently holding a record of 6-1). He trained in Judo from being 9 years old and was an amateur wrestler in High School. Almost exactly one year ago, in July 2013, Carelli and two partners (Kung Fu expert Steven J Wong and Terry Frendo, who publishes a fitness magazine) opened a 15,000 square foot gym in Ontario (called ‘Battle Arts Academy‘) for general strength and conditioning, as well as for training in mixed martial arts and pro wrestling.
Santino had signed his development contract with WWE back in 2005, and even while in development at Ohio Valley Wrestling, gained notoriety and widespread attention after a story broke about Jim Cornette (one of the owners and operators of OVW) slapping one of his students in front of the rest of the class. Cornette was upset that Marella had broken character and had (in Cornette’s mind) ruined a segment featuring The Boogeyman. Santino stated that on a day off from training and performing, he had taken his daughter to one of the OVW shows and, as he was himself simply an audience member, that he was not playing a character at that time. When Boogeyman came near to Marella and his daughter, Marella did not express any fear for the character, and instead, delighted that his daughter was having such a good time, was smiling, laughing and enjoying the show. Cornette felt that as a student and performer, Marella should have been in character and berated and slapped Marella in front of his classmates, which then caused Cornette to be removed from his office and seek alternative employment with TNA, where he appeared as one of their many on-screen authority figures.
Santino would be called up to the main roster in 2007, when he debuted as a plant in the audience of RAW, being shown from Milan, Italy. He was portrayed as a local audience member, and scored a massive upset over Eddie Fatu (who was, at the time, playing his final role in the company as Umaga) for the Intercontinental title. His name was a tribute to WWE legend and Hall Of Famer, Gorilla Monsoon, whose real name was Robert (or ‘Gino’ to his friends) Marella. Santino would go on to a second Intercontinental title reign, a US title, a Tag-Team championship with Vladimir Kozlov and, incredibly the ‘Miss Wrestlemania’ title.
Santino created a following for himself by emphasising the comedic elements of his character, which came to the forefront during one of his early storylines with Steve Austin. He would critically review the WWE Films release ‘The Condemned’ which starred Austin, and would misquote Steve’s catchphrases in broken English. This would become the cornerstone of Santino’s comedy act, which he extended to include getting people’s names wrong (Rodney The Piper, instead of Roddy Piper, and Jimminy Camel instead of Jimmy Kimmel, for example).
Marella has always fully embraced playing the comedic role for WWE, from playing jealous boyfriend to Maria Kanellis, being beaten up by her and seven other Divas, to entering the ‘Miss Wrestlemania’ battle royal in drag or being involved in the seemingly reluctant power-couple of Glamarella with Beth Phoenix. One of my personal favourite storylines (and favourite to many people I’ve spoken to on the subject) was when Santino, in an effort to beat The Honky Tonk Man’s record 64 week Intercontinental Title reign, unveiled the ‘Honk-a-meter’ screen graphic, which evolved into the ‘Honk-a-Perfect-Mountie-Meter’, comparing the length of his title reign with those of the most legendary Intercontinental champions in history. Unfortunately the angle was short-lived, as Santino only amassed a 12 week and one day reign.
Anthony Carelli is known as being legitimately tough, having competed in MMA prior to signing with WWE (apparently holding a record of 6-1). He trained in Judo from being 9 years old and was an amateur wrestler in High School. Almost exactly one year ago, in July 2013, Carelli and two partners (Kung Fu expert Steven J Wong and Terry Frendo, who publishes a fitness magazine) opened a 15,000 square foot gym in Ontario (called ‘Battle Arts Academy‘) for general strength and conditioning, as well as for training in mixed martial arts and pro wrestling.
Santino had signed his development contract with WWE back in 2005, and even while in development at Ohio Valley Wrestling, gained notoriety and widespread attention after a story broke about Jim Cornette (one of the owners and operators of OVW) slapping one of his students in front of the rest of the class. Cornette was upset that Marella had broken character and had (in Cornette’s mind) ruined a segment featuring The Boogeyman. Santino stated that on a day off from training and performing, he had taken his daughter to one of the OVW shows and, as he was himself simply an audience member, that he was not playing a character at that time. When Boogeyman came near to Marella and his daughter, Marella did not express any fear for the character, and instead, delighted that his daughter was having such a good time, was smiling, laughing and enjoying the show. Cornette felt that as a student and performer, Marella should have been in character and berated and slapped Marella in front of his classmates, which then caused Cornette to be removed from his office and seek alternative employment with TNA, where he appeared as one of their many on-screen authority figures.
Santino would be called up to the main roster in 2007, when he debuted as a plant in the audience of RAW, being shown from Milan, Italy. He was portrayed as a local audience member, and scored a massive upset over Eddie Fatu (who was, at the time, playing his final role in the company as Umaga) for the Intercontinental title. His name was a tribute to WWE legend and Hall Of Famer, Gorilla Monsoon, whose real name was Robert (or ‘Gino’ to his friends) Marella. Santino would go on to a second Intercontinental title reign, a US title, a Tag-Team championship with Vladimir Kozlov and, incredibly the ‘Miss Wrestlemania’ title.
Santino created a following for himself by emphasising the comedic elements of his character, which came to the forefront during one of his early storylines with Steve Austin. He would critically review the WWE Films release ‘The Condemned’ which starred Austin, and would misquote Steve’s catchphrases in broken English. This would become the cornerstone of Santino’s comedy act, which he extended to include getting people’s names wrong (Rodney The Piper, instead of Roddy Piper, and Jimminy Camel instead of Jimmy Kimmel, for example).
Marella has always fully embraced playing the comedic role for WWE, from playing jealous boyfriend to Maria Kanellis, being beaten up by her and seven other Divas, to entering the ‘Miss Wrestlemania’ battle royal in drag or being involved in the seemingly reluctant power-couple of Glamarella with Beth Phoenix. One of my personal favourite storylines (and favourite to many people I’ve spoken to on the subject) was when Santino, in an effort to beat The Honky Tonk Man’s record 64 week Intercontinental Title reign, unveiled the ‘Honk-a-meter’ screen graphic, which evolved into the ‘Honk-a-Perfect-Mountie-Meter’, comparing the length of his title reign with those of the most legendary Intercontinental champions in history. Unfortunately the angle was short-lived, as Santino only amassed a 12 week and one day reign.
Another great moment in the career of Santino was at the Elimination Chamber Pay-Per-View in 2012 where, as a last minute replacement for Randy Orton, Santino was booked as the ultimate underdog, re-enacting scenes from Rocky movies throughout the show as he prepared for his chance-of-a-lifetime shot at becoming World Heavyweight Champion. The crowd roared as Santino was left as the last opponent standing to defending champion Daniel Bryan, before he was ultimately eliminated.
Whatever your favourite memories may be of Santino, pretty much all fans will agree that few have embraced and performed the comedy role in WWE so consistently well. He has created many memorable moments and was a good, solid performer in the ring. This loss will leave a hole that WWE will struggle to fill. Their usual comedy segments, which generally consist of making giant, natural heels into dancing babyface fools, just don’t measure up to the wit, timing and excellent execution of Santino’s act. While many may argue that the comedy gimmick was an albatross around Carelli’s neck, he wholeheartedly used it to his benefit and enjoyed a longer career with WWE than many on similar rungs of the ladder have been able to manage.
I hope that his training facility continues to grow and do well, and that despite his in-ring career being over, that Marella will be able to continue to contribute to the business. There are many talented wrestlers and other on-screen talents who just don’t have the verbal skills that Marella possesses, and with his comedy character he could excel as a heel colour commentator or as a manager in a similar way to Bobby Heenan in the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s. Whatever the future holds, the contributions made by Santino have raised many smiles and will continue to delight audiences for many years, through platforms such as the WWE Network and various highlight shows and DVD releases. Thank you for the memories.
Whatever your favourite memories may be of Santino, pretty much all fans will agree that few have embraced and performed the comedy role in WWE so consistently well. He has created many memorable moments and was a good, solid performer in the ring. This loss will leave a hole that WWE will struggle to fill. Their usual comedy segments, which generally consist of making giant, natural heels into dancing babyface fools, just don’t measure up to the wit, timing and excellent execution of Santino’s act. While many may argue that the comedy gimmick was an albatross around Carelli’s neck, he wholeheartedly used it to his benefit and enjoyed a longer career with WWE than many on similar rungs of the ladder have been able to manage.
I hope that his training facility continues to grow and do well, and that despite his in-ring career being over, that Marella will be able to continue to contribute to the business. There are many talented wrestlers and other on-screen talents who just don’t have the verbal skills that Marella possesses, and with his comedy character he could excel as a heel colour commentator or as a manager in a similar way to Bobby Heenan in the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s. Whatever the future holds, the contributions made by Santino have raised many smiles and will continue to delight audiences for many years, through platforms such as the WWE Network and various highlight shows and DVD releases. Thank you for the memories.
Arrivederci
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(This article was originally posted on the 'GetRealWrestling' website in July 2014, but was moved here after that site closed.)