Santino Marella

Santino Marella
Born	(1979-03-14) March 14, 1979 Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Boris Alexiev Johnny Geo Brasco Santino Marella Santina Marella
Billed height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Billed weight	227 lb (103 kg)
Billed from	Calabria, Italy
Trained by	OVW
Debut	2006

Anthony Carelli (born March 14, 1979) is a Canadian professional wrestler of Italian descent best known as Santino Marella in World Wrestling Entertainment. He is currently one-half on the WWE Tag Team Champions, with Vladimir Kozlov, and appears on both the SmackDown brand. Since competing for WWE, he has also become a two-time Intercontinental Champion.

Professional wrestling career

Ohio Valley Wrestling

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

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. As Alexiev he made his debut on April 12, 2006 along with his manager and "comrade", Mr. Strongko. With his new gimmick he was booked to dominate opponents with stiff strikes and submission style wrestling, including a 10-second win over a wrestler named Dewey. He signed a developmental deal with WWE on August 11, 2006, and continued working in OVW.

On January 24, 2007, Alexiev was booked to hold the Television Championship after defeating Mike Kruel, who defended the title for original champion Eddie Kraven. He dropped the title back to Kruel on February 7, but regained it on March 14 after defeating Kruel in a rematch. His second reign lasted for three days, as he dropped it to Shawn Spears on March 17. He was called up to the active roster a month later.

World Wrestling Entertainment (2007–present)

Debut (2007)

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". 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. The next day WWE.com posted a profile on Marella with a fictional 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.

Santino Marella and Maria.

Shortly after gaining the Intercontinental Championship, Marella started a scripted rivalry with Chris Masters, narrowly retaining the title over him in his first defenses. He held the Intercontinental Championship for three months before dropping it back to Umaga on July 2, 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's character became increasingly villainous; he was depicted as possessive and jealous of his girlfriend 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. At the same time Marella, began a campaign of bashing 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 soaking both him and Maria down with a hose from a Budweiser truck. During the Austin program, Marella repeatedly mocked Austin and mangled the English language and his catchphrases in promos, giving his character a new humorous bent. On edition of 15 Raw Anniversary Marella made an open challenge which is answered by Rob Van Dam, however Van Dam defeated Marella in a match lasting less then a minute.

After a short program with Jerry Lawler, he was placed into a tag team with Carlito. 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, he attempted to sabotage the cover unveiling, finally pushing Maria to break up with him. At WrestleMania XXIV, Maria was involved in a "Playboy BunnyMania Lumberjack match", during which Santino interfered only to get punched by Jerry Lawler near the end of the match and clotheslined by celebrity Master of Ceremonies Snoop Dogg after the match. Marella's feud with Maria came to an end after she defeated him on the episode of Raw the day after WrestleMania by dropping her head into Marrella's groin. Marella and Carlito began a feud with Hardcore Holly and Cody Rhodes over the World Tag Team Championship. During a title match between the two teams, Roddy Piper distracted Marella, who was then pinned and so lost the match for his team. Due to the distraction, Marella started a rivalry with Piper, including a confrontation on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.

Glamarella era (2008–2009)

Marella and Beth Phoenix in late 2008

On the July 14, 2008 episode of Raw, Marella was defeated by WWE Diva Beth Phoenix in a match. Marella issued an open challenge to the entire Raw roster. The angle continued the following week after Marella lost to the returning D'Lo Brown. Marella and Phoenix shared a kiss, both expressing considerable confusion afterwards. In later weeks, they became an on-screen power couple, later called "Glamarella", a portmanteau of "Glamazon" (Phoenix's nickname) and "Marella". At SummerSlam, Marella won the Intercontinental Championship for a second time, when he teamed with Phoenix against champion Kofi Kingston and WWE Women's Champion Mickie James. Phoenix pinned James after hitting her Glam Slam, thus winning both titles for her team per the pre-match stipulation.

During his second reign, Marella started a quest to become the "greatest Intercontinental champion of all the times" by beating The Honky Tonk Man's record reign of 64 weeks, constantly bringing out a status report called the "Honk-A-Meter". At Cyber Sunday, Marella defended the Intercontinental title against the Honky Tonk Man (who won the majority of fan's votes, beating fellow former champions Roddy Piper and Goldust), losing by disqualification. On the November 10 episode of Raw, Marella lost the title to William Regal and thus failed to reign as champion for more than 64 weeks.

At the beginning of 2009, Marella entered the Royal Rumble drawing number 28. He was instantly eliminated by Kane in 1.9 seconds, thus breaking The Warlord's two second record for shortest Royal Rumble appearance at the 1989 Royal Rumble.

Santina Marella (2009)

"Santina" with Beth Phoenix and Rosa Mendes.

Following the announcement of a 25-Diva battle royal at WrestleMania XXV to crown the first-ever "Miss WrestleMania", Marella became a fan favorite and was placed in an angle in which he expressed his desire to compete in the match. The storyline called for Marella to challenge Mickie James in a match where he had one arm tied behind his back, and if he won, he would gain entry into the match. He lost, however, and, as a result, the following week, in a bid to prove he was eligible to compete, he revealed he was wearing a mankini, but was subsequently attacked by most of the Divas on the roster. Nevertheless, at WrestleMania XXV, Marella won the 25 Diva battle royal, competing in drag under the disguise of "Santino Marella's twin sister, Santina", and last eliminating Phoenix and Melina. On the May 18 episode of Raw, Santina lost the "Miss Wrestlemania" title to Vickie Guerrero. Marella won it back at Extreme Rules when he defeated Vickie Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero in a handicap hog pen match. On the June 22, 2009 episode of Raw, Raw's new owner Donald Trump fired Santina, ending the angle.

Teaming with Vladimir Kozlov (2010-present)

On January 27, 2010, WWE.com announced that Marella would star in his own sitcom, with Beth Phoenix and Vladimir Kozlov as his supporting cast. At WrestleMania XXVI, Marella competed in the 26-man battle royal dark match, which was won by Yoshi Tatsu. Marella soon started trying to form a tag team with Vladimir Kozlov, who consistently refused the offer. On the May 31 edition of Raw, Kozlov intervened in a mixed tag team match featuring Marella and aided him in securing the victory. On the July 19 edition of Raw, Kozlov teamed with Marella and in their first match as an official tag team, they defeated William Regal and Zack Ryder. At Night of Champions 2010, Marella and Kozlov competed in a Tag Team Turmoil match for the WWE Unified Tag Team championship but were unsuccessful as the titles were won by "Dashing" Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre. On the October 11 edition of Raw he successfully defeated Zack Ryder to become apart of the Raw Bragging Rights team against SmackDown. However at the event, Marella was the first of the seven Raw Superstars in the match to be eliminated after being pinned by Tyler Reks. On the October 25 episode of Raw, Marella scored a major upset by defeating former two–time WWE Champion Sheamus; Santino and Sheamus then had two subsequent run-ins, both of which ended in John Morrison saving Santino from Sheamus' post-match assaults. On the November 15th edition of Raw, Marella and Kozlov became the number one contenders for the WWE Tag Team Championships, defeating The Usos in the process. Marella and Kozlov failed to capture the titles at Survivor Series 2010. They went on to win the WWE Tag Team Championship in a Four-Way elimination tag team match on Monday Night Raw on December 6, 2010 against The Usos, The Nexus and the tag team of Mark Henry and Yoshi Tatsu with a distraction created by John Cena. On the December 10 edition of SmackDown, Marella and Kozlov faced the team of Chavo Guerrero and Drew McIntyre.

Personal life

Carelli has a daughter.

In wrestling

Santino Marella as the Intercontinental Champion.

• Finishing moves
  • As Santino Marella
    • The Cobra (Throat thrust in the shape of a cobra, with theatrics) - 2010–present
    • Diving headbutt while saluting, sometime from second rope, now used mostly as a signature move
    • Snap swinging neckbreaker - 2007–2008

• • As Boris Alexiev
    • Triangle choke

• Signature moves
  • Jawbreaker
  • Roll-up
  • Running headbutt drop
  • Santino Stunner (Split leg stunner) - 2010–present
  • STO

• Nicknames
  • "The Milan Miracle"

• Managers
  • Mr. Strongko
  • Maria
  • Beth Phoenix
  • Rosa Mendes
• Entrance themes
  • "Anvil of Crom" by Basil Poledouris (as Boris Alexiev)
  • "La Vittoria è Mia (Victory Is Mine)" by Jim Johnston

Championships and accomplishments

Santino during his second reign as Intercontinental Champion.

• Ohio Valley Wrestling
  • OVW Television Championship (2 times)

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him #91 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2008

• World Wrestling Entertainment
  • WWE Tag Team Championship (1 time, current) - with Vladimir Kozlov
  • WWE Intercontinental Championship (2 times)
  • Miss WrestleMania (2 times) (as Santina Marella)

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Best Gimmick (2007, 2008)

External links

• WWE profile
• Online World of Wrestling profile
• Top WWE names emerge in doping scandal