The Italian Stallion: Santino Marella

[Loose Cannon]

ok, I'll be the first one to admit, I was 100% wrong about this guy. When he was doing his babyface underdog thing, I thought he was a worthless pile of crap. And he was. He was really bland and I cringed when he talked.

Now, all of a sudden he does a complete 180 as a heel. His character is so awesome and who would of thought this guy could talk. He's been hillarious with his one liners and insults the past weeks, but last night really impressed me. I really felt like management told him to go out there and talk. It didn't come off at all like some scripted promo. His delivery and expressions were spot on. And the one thing that really caught my attention was when he kept talking as Sandman came out. He didn't stop and let Sandman come to the ring first. He talked right through the entrance. "Who is this, I don't know this guy"

I'll admit, I'm a fan now. He's got something there. Now I'm not going to go all fanboy on him and say he's the greatest thing in the world, but I do think he's got a jump on a lot of guys based on what I've been seeing. I hope he only continues to improve.

[Dave Youell]

Totally agree,

Ironically he’s barely wrestled since he turned heel, wasn’t he on the dreaded list though? So he could already be done, but I do agree he is fantastic right now

[Xero]

I admit I hate him, but in a way that a fan is supposed to hate a wrestler, not in the "get off my TV" way, so he's playing the annoying dick pretty well.

[Rob]

I'm not in a rush to see him wrestle but he is awesome talking. Maybe they should just make him a manager or something.

[br0ken]

Is he related to Rocky :?:

[Kane Knight]

They're half brothers.

[br0ken]

I was trying to be funny this time. I know they are just buying the rights to that nickname because people are familiar with it. Like when The Rock was The great one.

[Loose Cannon]

that's not his nickname. I just gave that to him.

[Kane Knight]

I was trying to be funny this time. I know they are just buying the rights to that nickname because people are familiar with it. Like when The Rock was The great one.

Glad you told me you were trying to be funny, because I was dead serious.

[BigDaddyCool]

He is fairly entertaining. He does got that little something. He just needed the chance to do something besides be the greatful suprise underdog. I like how they did it too. He started off like the model little employee, all happy, nothing bad to say about anyone. No one likes that, then he shows he true colors of being a macho, schovinist, jealous jerk. I'm not sure if they planned it that way, but it comes off very well.

[Jura]

I agreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. He made me crack up during the dating game.

[IC Champion]

I do think since becoming 'heel' that Santino is far more entertaining, and I actually enjoy his segments.

[Theo Dious]

"Im-a gonna embarrass you worse than-a that senator that went-a looking for boyfriend love in-a the toilet."

"You embarrassed because-a I make-a love to Maria... and you make-a love to your stick!"

Best lines of 2007. :y:

[mrslackalack]

Hes kind of acting like Salvatore Sincere.

[IC Champion]

"Im-a gonna embarrass you worse than-a that senator that went-a looking for boyfriend love in-a the toilet."

"You embarrassed because-a I make-a love to Maria... and you make-a love to your stick!"

Best lines of 2007. :y:
OMG ITZ A TEEDIOUS SIGHTING!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Theo Dious]

OMG ITZ A TEEDIOUS SIGHTING!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh you wait till I get back full-time. I'm gonna have promo videos and everything.

[Kane Knight]

And ratings will drop. :p

[Theo Dious]

And ratings will drop. :p

What would be the point otherwise?

[Stickman]

I like him

[Y2Ant]

You know who else was a pile of shit as a bland babyface until he got a heel turn and a shoulder injury? Randy Orton. I am constantly reminded of this when I see Marella now.

Remember RNN? That shit was immense.

[Ninti the Mad]

I wanted to make a topic also on him.

Hes been great as a heel. Very 'LOL'

[Jordan]

I agree with most, he makes me laugh pretty hard. I hope he stays on Raw.

[Hanso Amore]

Shut up-a you face!

Golden!

[BigDaddyCool]

I would like to see him move to ECW to help fill out the roster.

[Loose Cannon]

I also loved last night when he said something insulting the crowds town and then he starts going "OH BOOOOOO, BOOOOOO" lol.

[Loose Cannon]

oh a funny guy. ok.

[Skippord]

Until he wrestles he's kind of alright

still sucks tho

[Mr. Nerfect]

Anthony Carelli is an amazing performer. I was not one of those who turned on him during his Intercontinental Title reign, but I can understand why people did. Those problems weren't Carelli's, though, rather the fault of the WWE for making him so bland.

The guy has always been good on the mic. He almost made Vince crack up laughing during his debut.

Vince: Do you speak English, Santino?

Marella: .......Ci, ci.

*Vince starts to smile and tries to hide it*

It's quite interesting to have a look at his OVW work, which is a complete contrast to his WWE work. There he played Boris Alexiev, who was kind of a shoot fighter from Russia.

Here is a video promoting Boris Alexiev in OVW. I would not be able to tell they are the same guy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2u3tJDEeBA

That's why I refer to Santino Marella by his real name a lot. His characters are quite out-there, really. I mean, this isn't just a guy from the south pretending to be a hillbilly; he has to fake the accent, and really has a long way to go to get into character. I think he deserves props for getting as far as he does with it.

In the ring, Carelli is vastly underrated. He was one of Paul Heyman's best prospects during his stint in OVW, along with Mr. Kennedy, CM Punk, Brent Albright, Matt Cappotelli, Johnny Jeter and Kenny Dykstra. Granted, those are a lot of names, but this is Paul Heyman we are talking about, and we know what he can do when he takes the book (see the classic ECW or SmackDown! circa 2002/2003 for details). Carelli has a lot of in-ring potential, and I think eventually people will do an MVP on the guy, and when he gets a chance to show it, people will go "OMG! He suddenly got better!" I think the talent is already there, the company just haven't given him the platform yet.

[Rob]

Sorry but MVP has come on leaps and bounds since working with Benoit. Punk was a decent worker before OVW. Kennedy is slowly getting better but his basics were miles better than Santino's on each debut. Jeter, Cappotelli and Albright should have been on the main roster donkeys years ago and used to their potentials.

[Corporate CockSnogger]

He reminds me a bit of Fez from That 70's Show.

[Anybody Thrilla]

He's my favorite part of Raw.

[IC Champion]

I knew Thrilla would be more than happy with Santino.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Sorry but MVP has come on leaps and bounds since working with Benoit. Punk was a decent worker before OVW. Kennedy is slowly getting better but his basics were miles better than Santino's on each debut. Jeter, Cappotelli and Albright should have been on the main roster donkeys years ago and used to their potentials.

I disagree. Not about Jeter, Cappotelli and Albright, you are right with them. MVP has always been a solid wrestler, though. It would be wrong to say he hasn't gotten better, but when he came in, people said he couldn't work at all, and that is just not true.

Wouldn't you say that the Santino Marella character is limiting? I really don't think the guy has been given the opportunity to work a real match. In his debut match, he had to pretend he was a fan, and then I remember he working with Masters, in matches that weren't good, but weren't as horrible as some Chris Masters matches. I quite enjoy Santino's MMA style, which is what he was using in those matches, with lots of quick strikes. Then he got squashed by Umaga a few times, and I was quite impressed by the way he took a beating. There were some nice, crisp spots in his matches with Umaga.

I'm not saying the guy is perfect, but I wouldn't say he is horrible.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Also, his theme music kicks ass.