Holy S***... Santino's OVW Character...

[SassovsHart]

veggieoverlord said:

Dusty was pushing for this gimmick do be done in ECW. Sort of like the new Tazz. Could've been cool. But this, and his Santino character shows how versatile of a performer he could be.

I thought it was Heyman who was pushing for it in ECW. Once as a protege to Angle, and another time doing a similar debut from the stands deal to what he did now, except he'd look more like a Steve Blackman type badass during his debut. Then he would have gone on to be his Tazz character.

I'm pretty sure Dusty didn't join ECW until earlier this year because Lagana was struggling after taking over the head writing duties and needed some help, so they moved Dusty off of SD! to help him out.

[bigrick0016]

A 185 submission machine would totally get over.....

[jmac950]

I think he should keep his current character, but slowly implement some of his old moves. Gradually change Santino's character.

[ThereIsNoAbsurdistOnlyZuul]

meanstreetposse said:

ariata said:

If anything, this video proves that Anthony Carelli is the undisputed king of the fake European accent.

Maybe my knowledge of history really, REALLY took an alcohol-fuelled beating last night, but I seem to recall Russia being in Asia, not Europe. ;D

But yes, Carelli is the master of the broken English accent. Notice that he even garbles a word ("animal" becomes "aminal").

Still I'd love to see him bust out some of those moves at random, with a comment that he learned that in the famous wrestling school, "My Uncle Giuseppe's Dungeon".

Geography. History is a different subject.

But, technically Russia is in two continents. The Ural Moutains (I believe) as the dividing line.

[Guns of the Samuri]

I actually agree with the mix. If they decide, after the Orton ordeal, to match him up with Jericho, they could play off the man of 1,004 holds thing.

"Jericho, you say-a your de man wit a thousand and four-a holds. Well, I'm-a de man with a MILLION and-a four holds" accompanied with a huge role of paper

[Deleted]

Did he call his armbar the "Riddle of Steel"? That's an awesome name for a move.

[Mozenrath]

His current gimmick seems more natural to him.

[WinOwensWin]

Wow...I've never seen that before...Great promo by Santino...But, I really love the goofy, smarmy heel...

[molson5]

Gimmicks like that don't work in modern wrestling because he's not going to be allowed to "destroy" another superstar every week. In 1987, he could dominate jobbers for 6 months then be built up as a challenger to Hogan. But now, the "unstoppable" mystique can only possibly last so long.

[GaTechGrad]

Boris Alexiev = Ivan Drago from Rocky IV

[Deleted]

I don't know if he ever actually CALLED his arm-bar "The Riddle Of Steel", or if he merely meant that his wide array of attacking holds comprised a giant "riddle of steel" that you couldn't escape from. Still, "The Riddle Of Steel" is just three kinds of awesome.

[Mr Captain Falcon]

I haven't read any other posts in this topic yet, so I'm gonna say it and think that I"M the original. If I'm not then please correct me.

Santino is main event caliber, but not yet. He's the goofy heel that we love to entertain us and get his ass kicked. KURT ANGLE was the same way. TRIPLE H was the same way. RANDY ORTON was the same way (RNN was hilarious!). EDGE was the same way. CHRIS JERICHO was the same way. Look where they are now.

Give it time and Santino will win some gold again (for real this time) and when he loses it he snaps and goes into the BORIS character. It WILL happen. Bank on it!

[Red 'n' Black Reggie]

i dunno which character i'd prefer, personally. the alexiev gimmick, which would allow santino more freedom in the ring, or the santino one, which probably has a longer shelf life.

i'm just happy with what we've got at the moment. santino now is a billion times better than when he debuted. maybe if he starts using the ROS as a finisher, and brings back the flying side-kick, then he would be even better.

[Jared Has Been Enlightened :)]

One of the benefits of living in Indiana - besides the sex with the sister thing - is that you can see OVW on TV every week. Boris Alexiev was an alright character, but from a mic skills/charisma standpoint it would've held Santino back. The best bet, as mentioned, would me some combination of the two. Allow Santino to be his charismatic self, yet have him be a badass in the ring. That could make up for his lack of heavyweight size, a la Taz/

[Surfer Supreme]

that was a total surprise for me. and awesome.

i have already begun to mark hard for Santino, but this adds another level of cool to the man behind Santino and Boris!

again, wow. good for him.

[Confused Mark Wahlberg]

I dunno, it seemed way too much like a WWF 1986-type gimmick to me.

[The Varsity Club]

Damn that was BAD ASS

[Edison taps to the ARMBAR!]

His leg kicks are sloppy, he would keeps his hands too low when doing them. His armbar is beginner level performance (the cross armbar on the ground, the standing one is just worked), and for a proper armbar the hand needs to be pinned to the chest. I know he can do them for real since he was an MMA fighter in Japan. I'm just being picky about the video I guess.

It would have been a good gimmick though.

[Avalanche Alvarez]

withteeth said:

Man, I kinda wish he woulda kept the Boris Alexiev character... He looked pretty awesome and kinda bad ass...

youtube.com/watch?v=B2u3tJDEeBA

But then they couldn't have him play a buffoonish, stereotypical character and do the job to whomever they choose to this week.

I really dig this guy for putting up with this crap.
What would be so wrong with having him use that gimmick in the WWE?
One less insult to someone's heritage?

My bad.
Please...go on...

[Metalheadbanger Man]

Wasn't that a Heyman creation? It seems like a pretty cool gimmick, but then most of the time people brought up from OVW seem to be given worse gimmicks or get lost in the shuffle very quickly.