Santino Marella

Santino Marella
Marella in January 2016
Birth name	Anthony Carelli
Born	(1974-03-14) March 14, 1974 Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Residence	Patterson, New Jersey
Spouse(s)	Anna Babij (m. 2015)
Children	1
Website	www.battleartsacademy.ca
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Boris Alexiev Johnny Geo Basco Santino Marella Santina Marella Joe Basko
Billed height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Billed weight	233 lb (106 kg)
Billed from	Calabria, Italy
Trained by	Ohio Valley Wrestling
Debut	August 17, 2003
Retired	July 6, 2014

Anthony Carelli (born March 14, 1974) better known by his ring name Santino Marella, is an Italian Canadian actor, retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. He is best known for his time in WWE. He is a two-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, one-time WWE Tag Team Champion, one-time WWE United States Champion, and inaugural Miss Wrestlemania.

Background

Carelli was born in Mississauga, Ontario, to a family of Italian descent, and attended St Basil's Catholic Elementary School, and later Philip Pocock Catholic Secondary School. Carelli trained in judo at the age of nine and also competed in high school wrestling, winning a Region of Peel Secondary School Athletic Association (ROPSSAA) Tournament. both as a junior and then back-to-back and a senior Carelli was originally trained by journeyman wrestler Don Kolov in Woodbridge, Ontario.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (2003–2004)

Carelli started his career on the Ontario independent circuit as Johnny Geo Basco, debuting with a disqualification win over Xhibit (now Rico Montana) in the opening match of a Ring Wars show in Orangeville, Ontario, on August 17, 2003. In the second half of 2004, Carelli wrestled four matches for Battlarts in Japan, as Johnny Geo Basco. He also competed in mixed martial arts, with a 6–1 record (some were Pancration style) .

World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE

Ohio Valley Wrestling (2005–2007)

In 2005, Carelli (as Johnny Geo Basco) began training at Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), a developmental territory for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). In July, during a storyline where he was supposed to act afraid of The Boogeyman, but instead laughed, Carelli was shouted at and slapped by Jim Cornette, OVW's head booker and co-owner. This incident led to Cornette being fired as OVW booker by WWE.

Under OVW's new booker, Paul Heyman, Carelli became Boris Alexiev, a Russian mixed martial arts gimmick. On October 29, he lost his debut OVW match, teaming with Aaron Stevens against Chet the Jet and Chris Cage. Alexiev made his TV debut on April 12, 2006, managed by his "comrade", Mr. Strongko and defeating Mo Sexton. He was booked to dominate opponents with stiff strikes and submission style wrestling. He had a 10-second win over a wrestler named Dewey. He signed a developmental contract with WWE on August 11, 2006, and continued training in OVW.

On January 24, 2007, Alexiev won the OVW Television Championship from Mike Kruel, who was defending in place of champion Eddie Kraven. He lost it back to Kruel on February 7, and regained it from him on March 14. Three days later, he dropped it to Shawn Spears. He was called up to the WWE roster a month later.

Intercontinental Champion; storyline with Maria (2007-2008)

Carelli debuted as Santino Marella (a homage to WWE Hall of Famer Robert "Gorilla Monsoon" Marella) on the April 16, 2007 episode of Raw from Milan, Italy. He was the opponent selected by Vince McMahon for Umaga. The unknown Marella scored a surprising upset, and won the WWE Intercontinental Championship with a great assist from Bobby Lashley. The next day, WWE.com posted a profile on Marella, 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 said he moved to the U.S. to pursue a wrestling career with WWE.

Marella with Maria.

Shortly after winning the Intercontinental title, Marella feuded with Chris Masters, narrowly retaining the title in his first defenses. On July 2, he dropped the title to Umaga, after defeating him on June 24, at Vengeance: Night of Champions, by disqualification.

Marella then began a gradual heel turn and became increasingly jealous of his girlfriend, Maria. Over several weeks, they appeared together in a series of segments on Raw, including two "game show" skits, hosted by General Manager William Regal, which resulted in retired wrestler Ron Simmons winning a date with Maria, to Santino's dismay.

Marella began a publicity campaign against the WWE Films production, The Condemned, as its DVD release neared. He was eventually confronted by the film's star, Steve Austin, who argued the film's merits before delivering a Stone Cold Stunner to Marella and hosing him and Maria with beer. During the Austin angle, Marella repeatedly mocked him and his catchphrases in humorously broken English, starting a new comedic trend in his gimmick.

After a short angle with Jerry Lawler, which included Lawler hitting his signature fist drop maneuver after Marella lost a match to the returning Chris Jericho on the November 26 episode of Raw, Marella formed a tag team with Carlito.

Around this time, Maria was offered a photo shoot for Playboy magazine. After unsuccessfully persuading her to decline it, Marella tried to sabotage the cover unveiling (an in-ring segment of Raw), causing Maria to dump him. At WrestleMania XXIV, Maria had a "Playboy BunnyMania Lumberjack match". Santino interfered near the end of the match, pulling Maria off of a pin, and was punched by Jerry Lawler. After the match (which Maria's team lost), he was clotheslined by guest "Master of Ceremonies", Snoop Dogg. The next night on Raw, Maria wrestled Marella. Seven other women ganged up on him, and held his legs apart for Maria to headbutt his testicles and pin him. This ended their feud.

Marella and Carlito then feuded with Hardcore Holly and Cody Rhodes over the World Tag Team Championship. During a title match between them, Roddy Piper distracted Marella, who was then pinned. This sparked a rivalry with Piper, which included a confrontation on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.

Glamarella (2008–2009)

Marella as Intercontinental Champion with then-partner Beth Phoenix in late 2008

On the July 14, 2008 episode of Raw, Marella lost to Beth Phoenix, who had answered his open challenge. On the next episode, after he lost another open challenge to the returning D'Lo Brown, Marella and Phoenix kissed, both looking confused afterward. Over the next few weeks, they became a parody of a "power couple", soon called "Glamarella" (a portmanteau of Phoenix's nickname, "Glamazon", and "Marella"). At SummerSlam, they wrestled Intercontinental champion Kofi Kingston and WWE Women's Champion Mickie James in a mixed-tag match with both titles on the line. Phoenix pinned James after hitting her finisher, the Glam Slam, giving Marella his second Intercontinental championship.

Marella then sought to become the "greatest Intercontinental champion of all time" by beating The Honky Tonk Man's record 64-week reign. Over the weeks, a "Honk-A-Meter" graphic informed viewers of his progress during his matches and segments (at one point Marella even used a "Honk-a-Perfect-Mountie-Meter" comparing his reign to the combination of The Honky Tonk Man, Mr Perfect and The Mountie's reigns). At Cyber Sunday, Marella was disqualified in a title match with The Honky Tonk Man (who fans voted for over other former champions Roddy Piper and Goldust). On the November 10 episode of Raw, after a reign of twelve weeks and one day, Marella lost the title to William Regal.

In January 2009, Marella entered the Royal Rumble, at #28. He was eliminated by Kane after (officially) 1.9 seconds, breaking The Warlord's 1989 record for shortest Royal Rumble appearance by a tenth of a second.

Santina Marella (2009)

Marella's humour proved popular with audiences, and he turned face again before WrestleMania XXV, expressing his desire to be crowned the inaugural "Miss WrestleMania" in a 25-woman battle royale at the event. He challenged Mickie James to a match with one arm tied behind his back, with a battle royal spot on the line, but he lost. The next week, in order to "prove" his eligibility, he revealed he was wearing a mankini. Instead, he was attacked by most of the female roster. Nevertheless, at WrestleMania, he won the battle royal, competing in drag as Santina Marella (Santino Marella's self-alleged twin sister), last eliminating Beth Phoenix and Melina.

Marella successfully defended the Miss Wrestlemania title against Phoenix at Backlash in three seconds, with help from The Great Khali. On the May 18 Raw, Marella lost the title to Vickie Guerrero, and won it back on June 7, at Extreme Rules, by defeating Vickie and Chavo Guerrero in a handicap hog pen match. On the June 22 Raw, Raw's new owner, Donald Trump, fired Santina and the Miss WrestleMania title was abandoned.

Teaming with Vladimir Kozlov (2010–2011)

Marella and Kozlov in November 2010 on Raw in Manchester, England

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 2010, Marella and Kozlov wrestled a Tag Team Turmoil match for the Unified Tag Team Championship, won by Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre.

On the October 11 Raw, he defeated Zack Ryder to qualify for Team Raw at Bragging Rights, against Team SmackDown. He was the first of seven Team Raw members eliminated, pinned by Tyler Reks. On the October 25 Raw, after Sheamus had called him an "embarrassment" for being the first man out at Bragging Rights, Marella scored an upset victory over the former two-time WWE Champion. They wrestled twice more, both matches ending with John Morrison saving Santino from Sheamus' post-match assault.

Marella at Tribute to the Troops 2010

On the November 15 Raw, Marella and Kozlov became number one contenders for the WWE Tag Team Championship by defeating The Usos. They unsuccessfully challenged The Nexus (Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater) for the title at Survivor Series. They won the Tag Team Championship in a four-way elimination tag match on the December 6 Raw, beating The Nexus, The Usos and Mark Henry and Yoshi Tatsu, after John Cena distracted Gabriel, allowing Marella to hit his Cobra finisher. After celebrating in the ring, Tamina kissed Santino, starting a relationship between them. She began accompanying Marella to his matches. Marella and Kozlov retained the Tag Team title at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, when Gabriel and Slater were disqualified after interference from Nexus member Michael McGillicutty. The next night on Raw, Marella and Tamina beat Ted DiBiase and Maryse in a mixed-tag match. On January 30, 2011, Marella entered the Royal Rumble at number 37. He was one of the final two wrestlers, before being eliminated by Alberto Del Rio. At Elimination Chamber, Marella and Kozlov lost the Tag Team title to Gabriel and Slater. At Wrestlemania XXVII, Marella teamed with Big Show, Kane, and Kofi Kingston (replacing the injured Kozlov) to defeat The Corre (Slater, Gabriel, Ezekiel Jackson and Wade Barrett) in an eight-man tag match. Marella's relationship with Tamina ended when she was drafted to SmackDown. On August 5, Kozlov was released from WWE, ending the team.

United States Champion (2011–2012)

Santino Marella with the WWE United States Championship belt

Marella began teaming with Zack Ryder on the July 21 Superstars, beating Tag Team Champions David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty in a non-title match. On the August 1 Raw, Otunga and McGillicutty won the rematch.

On September 1, Carelli injured his left shoulder in a car accident before a house show in Puerto Rico, rendering him inactive for several weeks. Marella returned on the October 3 Raw, defeating Jinder Mahal. On the October 31 episode, Marella defeated Jack Swagger with a roll-up pin after he spit water given to him by special guest, Beaker of The Muppets, in Swagger's face. The following Raw, Swagger defeated Marella by submission. On the January 6, 2012 episode of SmackDown, Marella defeated Drew McIntyre to become Smackdown General Manager Theodore Long's assistant. Marella teamed with Yoshi Tatsu on the January 27 SmackDown and "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan on the February 3 episode to face Tag Team Champions Primo and Epico, losing both times. On the February 17 Smackdown, Marella won a battle royal to replace Randy Orton in the Elimination Chamber match at Elimination Chamber. At the pay-per-view, he was the last man eliminated by Daniel Bryan.

On the March 5 Raw, Marella defeated Jack Swagger to win the United States Championship. On the following episode of SmackDown, Marella successfully defended the title against Swagger in a steel cage match, by escaping through the cage door. At WrestleMania XXVIII on April 1, Marella was the team captain of Team Teddy, which lost to Team Johnny, after interference from Eve. The following night on Raw, Marella successfully defended the title against Swagger and Dolph Ziggler in a Triple Threat Match, and against David Otunga on the April 16 episode. In the pre-show of Extreme Rules on April 23, Marella defeated The Miz to retain the United States Championship. The following night on Raw, Marella unsuccessfully tried to earn a WWE Championship match at Over the Limit in a Beat the Clock Challenge against The Miz. Later that month, Marella briefly reunited with Zack Ryder, facing teams including Primo and Epico, Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks and Titus O'Neil and Darren Young. Marella then feuded with Alberto Del Rio's ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez, leading to a non-title Tuxedo match on June 17 at No Way Out, which Marella won. On the June 25 Raw, Marella successfully defended the United States Championship against Jack Swagger. Four days later on SmackDown, he and Intercontinental Champion Christian defeated David Otunga and Cody Rhodes to qualify for the World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank ladder match at Money in the Bank, which was won by Dolph Ziggler. On the July 27 and August 3 episodes of SmackDown, Marella lost to Antonio Cesaro in non-title matches. On August 19, on the SummerSlam pre-show, Marella lost the United States Championship to Cesaro. Marella lost his rematch for the title on the September 3 episode of Raw. On the September 21 episode of SmackDown, Marella defeated Cesaro in a non-title match to earn another shot at the United States Championship. The title rematch took place the following week on SmackDown, where Marella failed in his title challenge.

Various storylines (2012–2014)

On the debut episode of WWE Main Event on October 3, Marella and Zack Ryder entered a Tag Team Championship tournament, and defeated Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd in the quarterfinals. The following week on Raw, they were eliminated in the semifinals by eventual winners Team Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow). After this loss Marella and Ryder began a feud with 3MB's members (Heath Slater, Drew McIntyre & Jinder Mahal) which culminated in the Pre-show of Survivor Series, in which Slater and Mahal defeated them. On December 26, 2012, at Main Event, Santino Marella participated in a 20-man battle royal for the 1st contender of Cesaro's U.S. title and split from his partner Zack Ryder, when eliminated him. Successively Marella was eliminated by Wade Barrett from the battle-royal. Marella then took a leave of absence due to a neck injury. Marella returned on January 27, 2013, at the Royal Rumble, entering the Royal Rumble at number five before being the first man eliminated by Cody Rhodes. After a two-month absence, Marella returned to Raw on April 1, losing to Mark Henry.

Marella returned on the September 9 episode of Raw, defeating Antonio Cesaro. On the next episode of Smackdown he defeated Damien Sandow with the cobra. On the September 23 episode of Raw he suffered his first defeat against Fandango since his return to WWE. He defeated Heath Slater on the next episode of SmackDown and began to align himself with The Great Khali and Hornswoggle. Marella then began a feud with Cesaro and his tag team partner Jack Swagger. Santino defeated Swagger on the September 20 episode of SmackDown and he defeated Cesaro on the September 30 episode of Raw in singles competition. On October 6 at Battleground, Marella and The Great Khali were defeated by Cesaro and Swagger in a tag team match. They were defeated again by The Real Americans on the following episode of Raw; after the match Marella attacked Cesaro with the Cobra. On the October 21 episode of Raw, he defeated Heath Slater, dressed as Elvis Presley. After the match, he danced on the announce table. After that, he took a brief hiatus once again.

Marella and Emma before a match on Raw in April 2014

On February 3, 2014, Marella returned to television and invited Emma into the ring from the crowd to have a "dance-off" with Summer Rae, starting a feud with her and Fandango. Emma would go on to win the dance competition against Summer Rae the February 21 episode of SmackDown. Santino participated in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania XXX, eliminating The Miz, before being eliminated by Alberto Del Rio. On May 5, Santino participated in a 20-man battle royal for Dean Ambrose's WWE United States Championship, but he was eliminated by RybAxel (Ryback and Curtis Axel).

Retirement and part-time appearances (2014–2016)

After a third neck injury, Marella declared his retirement on July 6 at a house show in Toronto, Ontario. On September 16, 2014, Marella had undergone successful surgery on his neck.

Marella made several appearances throughout 2014 and 2015, including one appearance on the November 24 episode of Raw to promote his new movie, Jingle All the Way 2 with co-star Larry the Cable Guy, serving as the Guest General Manager for the December 5 episode of SmackDown and hosted his own Royal Rumble lottery on the 20th January, exclusively on the WWE Network. In mid-2015, Marella's profile was moved to the alumni section at WWE.com.

Marella made his return to WWE television on the December 21 episode of Raw to present an award at the Slammy Awards. The next night, on SuperSmackDown, Marella became angry when Stardust and The Ascension ruined his Christmas Party and vowed revenge, receiving the help of Neville and Titus O'Neil.

On May 6, 2016, Marella was released from WWE along with seven other superstars.

Battle Arts Academy

Early in his professional wrestling career, Carelli trained and wrestled at the original Battlarts in Japan. He, along with kung fu practitioner Steven J. Wong and fitness magazine publisher Terry Frendo, opened a 15,000 square foot multi-use facility and gym in Mississauga, Ontario called ‘Battle Arts Academy‘ in September 2013. It is for general strength and conditioning, as well as for training in mixed martial arts and professional wrestling taught by the original Battlarts founder, Yuki Ishikawa. In 2015, Carelli trained athletes from Venezuela for the Panamerican Games 2015.

Personal life

Carelli has a daughter, Bianca, who won the Miss Teen Ontario-World pageant in 2013. Carelli married his girlfriend, bikini fitness competitor Anna Babij, in November 2015.

In wrestling

Marella performs a hip toss on Fandango

Marella threatening Scott D'Amore with the Cobra Strike

• Finishing moves
  • As Santino Marella
    • Cobra Strike (Right-handed thrust to an opponent's throat or face, with theatrics) – 2010–2014
    • Rolling cutter - 2007–2008
    • Santino Stunner (Split-legged stunner) – 2010; used as a signature move from 2011–2014
    • Snap swinging neckbreaker – 2007–2008
  • As Boris Alexiev
    • Triangle choke
    • Standing inverted Fujiwara armbar
• Signature moves
  • As Santino Marella
    • Arm drag
    • Running headbutt drop, with theatrics
    • Savate kick
    • Split evasion followed by a hip toss
    • Snap suplex
    • STO
    • Three left-handed jabs followed by a right-handed forearm smash
  • As Boris Alexiev
    • Ankle lock
    • Back heel kick
    • Double leg takedown
    • Cross armbar
    • Guillotine choke
    • High knee
    • Kimura lock
    • Legsweep
    • Multiple shoot kicks
    • Over the shoulder arm drag
    • Roundhouse kick
• Managers
  • Mr. Strongko
  • Beth Phoenix
  • Maria
  • Tamina
  • Emma
• Nicknames
  • "The Italian Stallion"
  • "Milan Miracle"
• Entrance music
  • "Down with the Sickness" by Disturbed (EWA; 2003)
  • "Anvil of Crom" by Basil Poledouris (OVW)
  • "La Vittoria è Mia (Victory Is Mine)" by Jim Johnston (WWE; 2007–2014)
  • "You Look So Good to Me (Remix)" by Jim Johnston (WWE; 2009)

Championships and accomplishments

Santino during his second reign as WWE Intercontinental Champion

Marella as WWE United States Champion

• Ohio Valley Wrestling
  • OVW Television Championship (2 times)
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him No. 60 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2012
• World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE
  • WWE Intercontinental Championship (2 times)
  • WWE Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Vladimir Kozlov
  • WWE United States Championship (1 time)
  • Miss WrestleMania
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Best Gimmick (2007, 2008)

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown
1 match	wins	1 loss
By knockout	0	1
By submission	0	0
By decision	0	0

Res.	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
Loss	0–1	Takashi Ishino	KO (punch)	GCM CanD	October 24, 2004	1	0:26	Tokyo, Japan

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2014	Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery	Santino Marella
2014	Jingle All the Way 2	Claude

External links

• Santino Marella's profile on WWE.com
• Official website
• Anthony Carelli at the Internet Movie Database
• Anthony Carelli at TV.com