Santino Marella

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Santino Marella
An image of Santino Marella.
Statistics
Ring name(s) Boris Alexiev
Johnny Geo Basco
Santino Marella
Billed height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[1]
Billed weight 227 lb (103 kg/16.2 st)
Born March 14, 1979 (1979-03-14) (age 29)[2]
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada[1]
Resides Paterson, New Jersey
Billed from Russia (OVW)
Calabria, Italy (WWE)
Paterson, New Jersey by way of Calabria, Italy (WWE)
Trained by OVW staff
Debut 2004

Anthony Carelli[3] (born March 14, 1979)[2] is a Canadian professional wrestler of Italian descent[3] better known by his ring name Santino Marella. He is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment wrestling on the Raw brand.[3][4]

Contents

Before wrestling

Carelli was born in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.[1] He was a MMA fighter in Japan for several years before moving to the United States in May 2005 to learn to become a professional wrestler.[3]

Wrestling career

World Wrestling Entertainment

Ohio Valley Wrestling

In the United States, Carelli took classes at and worked for the Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) a developmental territory for the national World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). While there he was involved in an infamous incident with Jim Cornette, the company's head booker and part-owner. After an angle where he was supposed to act afraid of the Boogeyman but instead laughed, Cornette yelled at and slapped Carelli,[3] leading to Cornette being removed from his position as booker of OVW by WWE.[3][5][6]

Paul Heyman was appointed OVW booker to replace Cornette and changed Carelli's ring name from Johnny Geo Basco to Boris Alexiev, giving him a Russian shoot fighter gimmick.[3][7] As Alexiev he made his debut on April 12, 2006 along with his manager and "comrade", Mr. Strongko.[8] With his new gimmick he was booked to dominate opponents with stiff strikes and submission style wrestling,[9] including a defeat a wrestler named Dewey in 10 seconds.[8] He signed a developmental deal with WWE on August 11, 2006,[7] and continued working in OVW.

On January 24, 2007, Alexiev was booked to hold the OVW Television Championship, defeating Bad Kompany (Mike Kruel and Shawn Osbourne) who were holding the title simultaneously. He dropped the title back to Kruel on February 7, but got it back on March 14, holding it for three days when he dropped it to Shawn Spears.[10] He was called up to the active roster a month later.

Raw

He made his main-roster debut on the April 16, 2007 edition of WWE Raw in Milan, Italy, as a planted fan named Santino Marella. Marella's debut, in which he took the WWE Intercontinental Championship from Umaga in a No Holds Barred match after interference from Bobby Lashley, resulted in both that night and Santino himself being dubbed the "Milan Miracle".[11][12] The surname Marella was chosen for the character in honor of WWE Hall of Famer Gorilla Monsoon—real name Robert Marella—and was given to Carelli shortly before the trip to Italy.[3] The next day WWE.com posted a profile on Marella with a kayfabe background saying he was an Italian national who moved to Canada as a child and returned to his native country a few times each year to visit family. It further stated that he moved to the U.S. to begin training with the goal of breaking into professional wrestling, and ultimately WWE.[4]

Santino Marella and Maria.
Santino Marella and Maria.

Shortly after getting the Intercontinental Championship, Marella started a feud with Chris Masters, narrowly retaining the title over him in his first defenses.[13][14] He held the Intercontinental Championship for three months before dropping it back to Umaga on July 2,[15] after having just defeated him at the June 24 Vengeance: Night of Champions pay-per-view by disqualification when Umaga stopped listening to referee's instructions and continued punching Marella.

After losing the title Marella began a heel turn, being depicted as a possessive and jealous (if self-proclaimed) boyfriend of WWE Diva Maria. Over several weeks they appeared together in a series of segments on Raw, including two mini "game shows" hosted by General Manager William Regal which resulted in retired wrestler Ron Simmons winning a date with Maria, much to Santino's dismay.[16][17] At the same time Marella began a campaign of "bashing" the WWE Films production The Condemned, as its DVD release neared.[18][19] Eventually he was confronted by the films star, Stone Cold Steve Austin, who after arguing the films merits delivered a Stone Cold Stunner to Marella and soaked both him and Maria down with a hose from a Budweiser truck.[20] During the Austin program he repeatedly mocked Austin and "mangled" the English language and his catchphrases in promos,[19] giving his character a new humorous bent.

After a short program with Jerry Lawler,[21][22] he was placed into a tag team with Carlito.[23][24] At the same time, Maria was chosen to be pose for Playboy magazine, which was used as part of their storyline. When he was unable to get her to turn the offer down,[25] he attempted to sabotage the cover unveiling, finally pushing Maria to break up with him.[26] At WrestleMania XXIV, Maria was involved in a "Playboy BunnyMania Lumberjack match", during which Santino interfered only to get clotheslined by celebrity Master of Ceremonies Snoop Dogg after the match.[27] Marella and Carlito began a fued with Hardcore Holly and Cody Rhodes over the World Tag Team Championship. During the title match Roddy Piper distracted Santino who was then defeated. Santino started a feud with Piper, including a confrontation on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.

In wrestling

Santino Marella as the WWE Intercontinental Champion
Santino Marella as the WWE Intercontinental Champion

Championships and accomplishments

Personal life

Carelli has a daughter.[3] On May 1, 2008, Carelli was arrested on a DUI charge by Tampa police, but was later released on a $500 bond.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c Kenai Aendrews. La Vita è Bella for Santino. SLAM! Sports. Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
  2. ^ a b c Individual's Charge Report - Anthony Carelli. Hillsborough County Sherriff's Office. Retrieved on 2008-05-01.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i The LilsBoys (2007-12-06). "The Man Behind Santino Marella". The Sun. Retrieved on 2007-12-07.
  4. ^ a b Superstars > Raw > Santino Marella > Bio. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-04-18.
  5. ^ Waldman, J. (July 8, 2005). Jim Cornette released from WWE. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved on April 16, 2007.
  6. ^ Milner, J.. The Boogeyman. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved on April 16, 2007.
  7. ^ a b Pollock, J. (August 11, 2006). Friday Update. The Fight Network. Retrieved on April 16, 2007.
  8. ^ a b OVW results - 2006. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-04-18.
  9. ^ Boris Alexiev profile. OVWrestling.com. Archived from the original on 2007-02-05. Retrieved on April 16, 2007.
  10. ^ a b OVW Television Championship. Solie.org. Retrieved on April 17, 2007.
  11. ^ Santino Marella's first reign. Title histories > Intercontinental. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-01-04.
  12. ^ Santino Marella. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-01-04.
  13. ^ RAW results - May 7, 2007. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-04.
  14. ^ RAW results - May 14, 2007. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-04.
  15. ^ RAW results - July 2, 2007. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-04.
  16. ^ RAW results - August 6, 2007. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-04.
  17. ^ RAW results - August 13, 2007. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-04.
  18. ^ RAW results - September 24, 2007. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
  19. ^ a b RAW results - October 8, 2007. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
  20. ^ RAW results - November 5, 2007. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-04.
  21. ^ RAW results - November 12, 2007. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-04.
  22. ^ RAW results - November 19, 2007. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-04.
  23. ^ RAW results - December 17, 2007. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-04.
  24. ^ RAW results - December 31, 2007. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-04.
  25. ^ RAW results - January 21, 2008. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-04-22.
  26. ^ RAW results - March 3, 2008. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-04-22.
  27. ^ Rothstein, Simon (2008-01-04). Celebs star at WrestleMania. The Sun. Retrieved on 2008-04-22.
  28. ^ BMI: Johnston James Alan. BMI. Retrieved on 2008-01-21.
  29. ^ WWF/WWE Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship. Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved on 2008-01-04.

External links

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