Santino Marella is a true highlight of World Wrestling Entertainment
television shows. Who else can get beaten up every week by Stone Cold Steve
Austin, Jerry Lawler, Rey Mysterio, even Jimmy Kimmel's Cousin Sal or the WWE
Divas and still be one of the most hated characters on TV today? Santino is the
bad guy everyone loves to hate. He never needs to win. He just needs to
talk.
His exaggerated Italian accent almost never made it to television. When
Anthony John Carelli arrived in WWE Developmental Territory Ohio Valley
Wrestling, he was struggling to get a contract. When his daughter was visiting
him from Canada, he sat in the stands with her. The Boogeyman was on TV that
night, and Carelli laughed as the WWE character came towards him and his
daughter. That natural reaction got him berated in front of all the talent, and
slapped repeatedly by OVW co-owner and lead writer Jim Cornette.
For his unprofessional actions, Cornette was dismissed by WWE. In his
place, WWE Talent Executive John Laurinaitis and Creative Writing EVP Stephanie
McMahon-LeVesque pulled one out of a hat and assigned the task to former ECW
owner Paul Heyman. The controversial Heyman, known for his amazing ability to
create new characters, was fresh off the 2005 ECW One Night Stand pay per view.
He attacked the new assignment with zeal. Carelli, however, was not under
contract, but Heyman saw something in the talented Canadian, and put him on
television. After a glowing recommendation from Heyman, WWE signed Carelli to a
contract.
The rest, as they say, is history. While on tour overseas, Vince McMahon
was looking for a wild card. He had Carelli come in as "Santino Marella" and
with help from Donald Trump's favorite wrestler Bobby Lashley, won the
InterContinental Title from Umaga on his first name in Milan. A heel turn, an
on-screen affair with Playboy Cover Girl Maria, and a memorable moment with
Stone Cold Steve Austin have all occurred with Santino shining as WWE's comedic
villain.
The hysterical "Santino" was interviewed by Main Event Radio, and it was
nothing short of a classic.
Q: We are joined today by somebody who has skyrocket to quite a lot
of fame in a short period of time in the WWE, a man who is known not only for
his wrestling moves but also for his comedic talents,
none other than Santino Marella. Mr Marella, welcome to The Main Event, How you
doing sir?
A: Ah, very, very well, it’s a pleasure to be on The Main
Event.
Q: Santino maybe you can tell us a little bit about how you got
into the business, transitioning from MMA and judo to professional
wrestling I believe you even attended Concordia University
here in Montreal and were part of the amateur wrestling team there,
correct?
A: Absolutely, I did Juno for many years, then tried to break
into the business, I tried to go to Japan, and they always told me if you do
good there, they are gonna bring you here, so when I went their, I actually was
starting to do good there, but I got kicked out because I overstayed one visit
by a couple days you know, so back here I went to OVW and everything seemed to
work out just right.
Q: Well speaking of OVW, You were involved in a now
infamous incident with Jim Cornette and The Boogeyman which resulted in Cornette
slapping you and his eventual dismissal from OVW, can you tell us a bit about
how that went down?
A: Oh, this? Ha ha. This is a good one, So I'm at
this time only in OVW for one month, and my daughter was visiting me, and so we
were sitting in the audience and I thought maybe the Boogeyman recognized me
from the school and as he was leaving the ring, he turns to us, and I think, oh
what a good guy, he is gonna scare my daughter for me, for me that’s like a
present, but I didn’t realize that we were standing in front of the emergency
exit where he goes out. So I'm smiling thinking my daughter is going to crap her
pants, and Jim Cornette freaks out and says move move move, this man, you have
to be scared of this man, and then we moved and I thought it was over, but
somebody called me in the back and he freaked out a little bit, slap here, slap
there, and I think to myself that I can't punch this guy in the face because I'm
Canadian, and I'm gonna get kicked out of America. So anyway, I just kept quiet
and the rest was history, the WWE called me and apologized, saying this is not
how we treat out talent, this is not how we want to develop inspired young
athletes and he was going to be fired anyways they told me because he’s crazy,
but that definitely put me on the radar a little bit but there was no freebies
from that, I had to work up from scratch just like everyone else.
Q:
Following the dismissal of Cornette, its been said that Paul
Heyman really helped guide you and prepare you for the big
time. How much influence did Paul Heyman have on your preparation?
A:
Well Paul Heyman did something I did not realize, he would actually go up in the
bleachers and watch us practice. I was in the intermediate class with Rip
Rogers, and he would watch and scope out new talent, He is a special person,
Paul Heyman. Some people can call them whatever they want about him from the
past but he is a good person to me. So one day in the parking lot, I was doing
the Boris character, and he said I want you to start on TV next week, and your
gonna start to make it in the business. And this is crazy news, you know my
knees started shaking, but I'm thinking, "No problem, I'm ready." And next week,
sure enough his word was true, and I debuted on OVW TV.
Q: You
practically went from one day being in developmental to the next day debuting on
WWE television in Italy and winning the Intercontinental championship from Umaga
of all people. What was your initial reaction when you were told you of the
plans for you?
A: Well actually they didn’t tell me the plans until like
an hour before, because I'm driving in Kentucky to a house show for OVW and the
phone rings, and this is like Saturday or maybe Friday. Yes, it was Friday, and
they say, "Santino, you're Italian right?" I say, "Of course, I'm Italian." So
they say, "OK, were gonna send you your passport, you might fly out tomorrow, to
Milan, and debut as Santino Marella," So I hang up the phone and look at the guy
beside me. I'm thinking, "Oh my god, what's happening? This cant be true." They
called me back, and I turned down the volume, I clear my throat, professional
voice and say hello, and then they say, "Yup, ok, you're booked tomorrow, you're
flying to Milan, you might debut Monday, but you know the wrestling business,
might could change last second, so fingers crossed." I show up, walking around,
don’t know what's really going on and Arn Anderson, Double A, comes up to me and
says, "Hey looks like your gonna have a pretty nice day, your winning the
Intercontinental Title." And, you know, I actually froze for the first time. He
continued walking by me, and I kept looking in the same direction, and I just
froze in disbelief. And sure enough it ended up happening.
Q: If you had
the chance, would you have changed anything about the first month of your WWE
career, was it too much too fast?
A: I wouldn’t change a thing because
its all a means to get where we are today and if I change something back
there—you saw Back to the Future... If you go change something in the
past you're going to affect the future!
Q: In OVW, you had the
shoot-fight persona. You were Boris Alexiev as you mentioned, which really
highlighted your in-ring ability. In WWE, they utilize your comedic strengths.
Do you think there will be a time when you can combine your comedic talents and
your in-ring talents into the same character?
A: Yeah, I hope so. You
see, sometimes you can want something to be a certain way, but if it doesn’t
make sense, you cant force it. So if we get there naturally, organically, and
this comes out and we have a good storyline that will allow it to make sense
then okay, but I just can't one day wake up and kick everyone’s butt.
Q:
For a while you played the jealous boyfriend of Maria Kanellis. How was working
with her?
A: Ah, you know, to quote Stone Cold Steve Austin, one time
when they asked him about Trish Stratus, his response was, “You know, she’s a
chick." Haha.
Q: Well, actually, you were ripping on Stone
Cold's movie the condemned on TV pretty intensely.
How did you really feel about the movie and how did you like working with Stone
Cold and getting doused by the beer hose?
A: Well the movie is the movie,
but working with Stone Cold Steve Austin, that was definitely a moment where I
stopped and looked around and said to myself, "Sum of a gun,” you're in the ring
with Stone Cold Steve Austin. And the beer hose, you know,
under normal circumstances that could be a better thing, but it was really
fun.
Q: Well, you poke fun at Stone Cold’s acting, but when your in-ring
career begins to wind down, would you like to make the jump to the acting
field?
A: Make no mistake about it, Hollywood, I put them on notice
already, movies, TV shows, books, cooking shows, sitcoms,
everything. When it comes to Hollywood everything. We made some
good friends there at ABC with Jimmy Kimmel and I told them the same thing. Just
be ready because when I come, I’m coming strong.
Q: This coming Saturday,
your appearing at the 42nd Annual CHIN Picnic in Ontario, what that’s gonna be
like?
A: This is actually the coolest thing I've ever done. I'm gonna be
the celebrity guest judge in the bikini contest, and
little does the winner know she gets an additional prize, she gets to go on a
date with Santino Marella. Maybe the top three, actually I'm not sure.
Q:
You recently took part along with other celebrities in the "Dreams Take Flight"
where you took 300 kids with mental, social or physical challenges with you to
Disney World in Orlando. How did that opportunity come about and how did it
go?
A: You know I love doing charity. You come away with such a larger
prospective, and for me Doug Gilmour and George St. Pierre was there and I'm
still a big fan of those things too, but you know the kids are the real magic of
that event. You go down, and I was pretending to be scared of the roller coaster
a little bit, and this one little girl I remember, she just survived cancer, and
she was so supportive of me being scared of the roller coaster that she was
forgetting about all her problems. And those kind of actions make you realize
that these kids have some strength inside of them that is
unbelievable.
Q: At the hall of fame, The Rock, a guy you've never worked
with, mentioned you along with some of the biggest stars in the company, how did
that feel?
A: You know I had nothing to do with that, it was the company
who thought of it, and That was a great feeling, and I know The Rock isn’t
really wrestling right now, and there probably won't be an official opportunity
to pass the torch so to speak with regards to the charisma, and the in-ring
ability and things like that, so I hopefully interpreted that as some sort of
informal passing of the torch, something like that. I'm not sure exactly what
they had in mind with that but that’s how I interpreted that.
Q: With
that in mind and looking back at how fast and how popular Santino Marella has
become, did you ever find that someone in the backstage area was jealous of you.
Did you ever get any heat from the boys in the locker room?
A: Actually,
no. In the beginning, I guess some people are hesitant, this new guy in the
locker room, given the title, given TV time, but throughout the last year I've
become pretty good friends with everyone in the locker room, so now there seeing
their friend do well, so its not so much jealousy but you know it’s a little bit
dog eat dog, and there is not opportunities for everyone but if your smart, you
want the business and company as a whole to do well because there is a trickle
down effect for everyone to get paid and feed their families, but the locker
room is really cool and they are some of my closest friends, and you work with
them so much they are like family.
Q: As of late you have been feuding
with Rodney the Piper with Cousin Sal, even appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Is
Roddy Piper as crazy as people say he is/was?
A: Oh yeah, absolutely. He
beat up Cousin Sal so bad in that training video, he choked him unconscious for
real, slapped him like seven times, and just basically beat him up. And he’s
legit, he’s rowdy, he’s Roddy, and he’s a piper.
Q: The 2008 WWE Draft
went down last week. Were you happy that you remained on Raw? And is there
anyone that has been moved to Raw that you'd like to feud with in the months to
come?
A: I am very happy to stay on Raw. All our programs are supposed to
be equal, and the talent on every show is supposed to be equal, but Raw is
Vince’s baby being live television. I'm happy to stay there, my schedule, my
friends, I wanted to stay the same, if its not broken, then don’t fix it. And
with the new people coming over, there’s Rey Mysterio. Finally someone I'm
bigger than. Maybe I can beat him up, Batista, um, I might want to become
friends with him somehow, but I dunno there is definitely some opportunities
now.
Q: And your ex-girlfriend, Maria, moved to Smackdown..
A:
That’s okay, because I've got a new girlfriend, and I didn’t want the static
backstage.
Q: Any clues on who that may be?
A: I can't really give
a clue like a name, but let me tell you this, she is sexier than the devil
himself..uh Herself I mean.
Q: Well, Santino Thanks for coming on the
program. To conclude, what are your future goals in World Wrestling
Entertainment and is there anything else you would like to relay to your home
country fans in Canada?
A: One goal I have is to get back the
Intercontinental Title and keep it for a while. You know, being an athlete and I
was training for the Olympics my whole life and when this was no longer possible
because of family, and I decided to become a professional wrestler, and there
was a goal I set for myself back in 1999. It was the same day that Owen Hart
passed away and I remember because I was with Jim Neidhart that day and it was a
memorable day. I said that day, that one day I am going to become
Intercontinental Champion. And I said when I become Intercontinental Champion,
I'm going to allow myself to let go of the fact that I did not go to the
Olympics as should have been.
