Post by fuzzywarble, squat cobbler on Dec 7, 2007 17:32:27 GMT -5
www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/wrestling/article553544.ece
WWE newcomer Santino Marella is no stranger to the wrestling business.
He has been trained by Don Kolov, slapped by Jim Cornette, mentored by Paul Heyman, named by Vince McMahon, kissed by Maria and beer-bathed by Steve Austin.
Yet if it wasn’t for a mix-up with a travel visa he may have always remained plain old MMA fighter Anthony Carelli.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, the ex-intercontinental champion explained: “I did judo for more than 20 years and had the opportunity to travel the world competing for my country of Canada.
“I went to Japan as an MMA fighter, because my understanding was if you do well in Japan they’ll recruit you in the US. My plan was to stay there for four years.
“I wanted to stand out as a foreign judo guy and everything was going really well, I was getting a push and fans liked my unique style.
“Then I overstayed one of my visas for a few days and was actually banned for a year.
“That guided to me to WWE developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling. I don’t know if someone up above was looking out for me, but it all worked out for the best.”
Despite his background as a shoot fighter, Santino always had a passion for the glitz and glamour of wrestling.
The star used to attend WWF shows with his dad and brother and even staged basement matches with his pillow, pretending to be Hulk Hogan or Jimmy Snuka.
And it was a grappling pal who got him a foothold in the professional world.
Santino told us: “I wrestled at high school and university and it was in my university team where I became friends with the son of Don Kolov – a Bulgarian world champion in freestyle who made the transition to join the WWF.
“He knew how to take someone with my shoot background and turn me into a professional wrestler. He understood what I needed to learn.”
Skipping the independent scene, which was weak in his Ontario hometown at the time, Santino saved up his cash and in May 2005, four months after leaving Japan, signed up for the beginner’s class in Ohio.
After years of judo, amateur wrestling and MMA fighting, he quickly moved up to the intermediate level and finally got a WWE developmental contract in August 2006.
But things nearly ended before they began for the 33-year-old, when he was bawled out and slapped by Jim Cornette after the OVW boss felt he laughed inappropriately during a segment with the Boogeyman.
Telling his side of the story for the first time, Santino says: “I’d only been there for a month and at the TV tapings there was a special section where the OVW students sat to watch the matches.
“My daughter was visiting me in Kentucky and the Boogeyman had just debuted.
“I didn’t know that he was going to leave out of the emergency exit, which we happened to be sitting in front of.
“So when the Boogeyman turned towards us, I thought he had recognised me from the school and was going to do me the favour and treat my daughter to the experience of being scared.
“So I was smiling because I was thinking to myself: ‘Oh this is going to be good, he’s going to scare her.’ I think Jim Cornette saw that as me laughing at the Boogeyman.
“I was so green in the business I didn’t realise I was supposed to support what was going on in the ring, I was just acting like a member of the audience.
“One of the referees then asked me to come to the back and I actually thought it because they liked something I did.
“Jim was pretty upset slapped me a few times.”
Luckily the WWE took his side and fired Cornette.
Praising the federation, he says: “They called me and assured me this was not how they treat developing talent and not the type of environment they wanted to create.
“They were apologetic, but were also up front and said: ‘You’re not going to get any free rides out of this. You still have to earn everything you are going to get.’
“That was fair enough – I didn’t expect a job because I got slapped!
”I just wanted an unbiased viewing when the time was right and down the road I had that the opportunity.”
Santino added: “When he slapped me I just didn’t know what to think.
“I’d heard he had a bad temper, but I didn’t have enough experience to make a proper assessment of the situation.
“I just knew if I punched him in the face I’d get fired.
“I guess I made some history though – I was pretty popular.”
Santino is disappointed that he never got to explain his side of the story to Jim or learn from the legendary booker but luckily the next man in charge of OVW took a huge shine to him.
He added: “Paul Heyman took over and was a super-motivator. He heard about my shoot fighting, as he’s a fan of MMA, and would actually watch our training sessions with Rip Rogers from a secret spot in the arena.
“One day he called me aside and said: ‘I’m thinking of doing this, this and this.’
“Then two weeks later in April 2006 I was making my bow on OVW TV as Boris Alexiev, with a Russian fighter gimmick.”
One year on and Boris became Santino, when the grappler got a call from the WWE.
He was also bestowed with two of the greatest honours a wrestler can get, having his name and gimmick created by WWE supremo Vince McMahon and winning a championship in his debut match.
Santino recalls: “When the people from talent relations called me and informed me I would be flying to Milan I didn’t know what to expect.
“I remember asking: ‘Is this going to affect Boris?’
“And they told me: ‘Boris is done. This is an idea from the man himself.’
“I realised immediately when they gave me the name that this was a huge honour, as Marella was the real surname of both Gorilla Monsoon and his son and referee Joey.
“Both are beloved in the industry and having the name really motivates me, as I don’t want to tarnish it after all they achieved.”
He adds: “Winning the intercontinental title from Umaga was interesting.
“I remember walking into the arena and really not knowing what was going to happen.
“It was unbelievable.
“It did put a lot of pressure on me to perform in the ring. And in the locker room there was a little bit of ‘who’s this guy’ and ‘how comes he gets a title immediately?’”
“But I thrive on pressure and backstage I tried my best to get along with everyone and prove that I’m a team player with total respect for the business.”
At first, as a babyface, the star found it hard to grow into his “overnight” character and make fans love him. He soon dropped the IC title back to Umaga and floundered a little.
But time and a heel turn transformed Santino into the best new character in the business.
His skits with Steve Austin, Jerry Lawler and Chris Jericho have had fans falling about laughing.
And, as we’ve stated on these pages before, Santino’s constant berating of Austin and his movie The Condemned have produced the funniest wrestling promos of 2007.
Marella is clearly pleased with how things have gone too.
He told us: “It took a while, but now I am very intimate with the character. I know Santino and am brining him to life in the way I envision.
“I have taken the experiences and humour of the Italian family and community I grew up in to become him.
“In the beginning I was acting like Santino but now I am Santino.
“The heel turn was also very important for me. It’s hard for a new babyface to come out and get support. You can get someone to like you, but it is much easier to make them hate you at first. I can also inject a lot more personality.”
He continues: “To work with Steve Austin was a personal and professional dream come true.
“When I was with him, just before he gave me the beer bath, I took a quick moment to look around and say: ‘Wow! I’m in the ring with Stone Cold Steve Austin.’”
Working with Maria, who plays his on-screen girlfriend, must also be a dream come true for a red-blooded male of Italian descent.
Santino goes shy, but confesses: “Maria is unbelievable. She looks good, smells good and feels good.
“She lights up every room she walks into and has a wonderful soul.
“At the end of the day when I say goodbye and give her a hug I make sure I get my money’s worth.
“She is just wonderful.”
As for what the future holds, Santino says: “Every week is just amazing. Guys like Jerry Lawler and Chris Jericho are legends in this business.
“I remember as a kid watching Jerry Lawler slapping Andy Kaufman and then years later he’s slapping me.
“And for me to see someone like Jericho, who is around my size and has achieved so much, is a complete source of inspiration.
“I sometimes wonder whether I can really achieve my goals.
“Then I look at guys like Jericho, Bret Hart and Owen Hart and I realise I can be a big success.”
If Santino continues as he has this year, we’re certain he will be.
WWE newcomer Santino Marella is no stranger to the wrestling business.
He has been trained by Don Kolov, slapped by Jim Cornette, mentored by Paul Heyman, named by Vince McMahon, kissed by Maria and beer-bathed by Steve Austin.
Yet if it wasn’t for a mix-up with a travel visa he may have always remained plain old MMA fighter Anthony Carelli.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, the ex-intercontinental champion explained: “I did judo for more than 20 years and had the opportunity to travel the world competing for my country of Canada.
“I went to Japan as an MMA fighter, because my understanding was if you do well in Japan they’ll recruit you in the US. My plan was to stay there for four years.
“I wanted to stand out as a foreign judo guy and everything was going really well, I was getting a push and fans liked my unique style.
“Then I overstayed one of my visas for a few days and was actually banned for a year.
“That guided to me to WWE developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling. I don’t know if someone up above was looking out for me, but it all worked out for the best.”
Despite his background as a shoot fighter, Santino always had a passion for the glitz and glamour of wrestling.
The star used to attend WWF shows with his dad and brother and even staged basement matches with his pillow, pretending to be Hulk Hogan or Jimmy Snuka.
And it was a grappling pal who got him a foothold in the professional world.
Santino told us: “I wrestled at high school and university and it was in my university team where I became friends with the son of Don Kolov – a Bulgarian world champion in freestyle who made the transition to join the WWF.
“He knew how to take someone with my shoot background and turn me into a professional wrestler. He understood what I needed to learn.”
Skipping the independent scene, which was weak in his Ontario hometown at the time, Santino saved up his cash and in May 2005, four months after leaving Japan, signed up for the beginner’s class in Ohio.
After years of judo, amateur wrestling and MMA fighting, he quickly moved up to the intermediate level and finally got a WWE developmental contract in August 2006.
But things nearly ended before they began for the 33-year-old, when he was bawled out and slapped by Jim Cornette after the OVW boss felt he laughed inappropriately during a segment with the Boogeyman.
Telling his side of the story for the first time, Santino says: “I’d only been there for a month and at the TV tapings there was a special section where the OVW students sat to watch the matches.
“My daughter was visiting me in Kentucky and the Boogeyman had just debuted.
“I didn’t know that he was going to leave out of the emergency exit, which we happened to be sitting in front of.
“So when the Boogeyman turned towards us, I thought he had recognised me from the school and was going to do me the favour and treat my daughter to the experience of being scared.
“So I was smiling because I was thinking to myself: ‘Oh this is going to be good, he’s going to scare her.’ I think Jim Cornette saw that as me laughing at the Boogeyman.
“I was so green in the business I didn’t realise I was supposed to support what was going on in the ring, I was just acting like a member of the audience.
“One of the referees then asked me to come to the back and I actually thought it because they liked something I did.
“Jim was pretty upset slapped me a few times.”
Luckily the WWE took his side and fired Cornette.
Praising the federation, he says: “They called me and assured me this was not how they treat developing talent and not the type of environment they wanted to create.
“They were apologetic, but were also up front and said: ‘You’re not going to get any free rides out of this. You still have to earn everything you are going to get.’
“That was fair enough – I didn’t expect a job because I got slapped!
”I just wanted an unbiased viewing when the time was right and down the road I had that the opportunity.”
Santino added: “When he slapped me I just didn’t know what to think.
“I’d heard he had a bad temper, but I didn’t have enough experience to make a proper assessment of the situation.
“I just knew if I punched him in the face I’d get fired.
“I guess I made some history though – I was pretty popular.”
Santino is disappointed that he never got to explain his side of the story to Jim or learn from the legendary booker but luckily the next man in charge of OVW took a huge shine to him.
He added: “Paul Heyman took over and was a super-motivator. He heard about my shoot fighting, as he’s a fan of MMA, and would actually watch our training sessions with Rip Rogers from a secret spot in the arena.
“One day he called me aside and said: ‘I’m thinking of doing this, this and this.’
“Then two weeks later in April 2006 I was making my bow on OVW TV as Boris Alexiev, with a Russian fighter gimmick.”
One year on and Boris became Santino, when the grappler got a call from the WWE.
He was also bestowed with two of the greatest honours a wrestler can get, having his name and gimmick created by WWE supremo Vince McMahon and winning a championship in his debut match.
Santino recalls: “When the people from talent relations called me and informed me I would be flying to Milan I didn’t know what to expect.
“I remember asking: ‘Is this going to affect Boris?’
“And they told me: ‘Boris is done. This is an idea from the man himself.’
“I realised immediately when they gave me the name that this was a huge honour, as Marella was the real surname of both Gorilla Monsoon and his son and referee Joey.
“Both are beloved in the industry and having the name really motivates me, as I don’t want to tarnish it after all they achieved.”
He adds: “Winning the intercontinental title from Umaga was interesting.
“I remember walking into the arena and really not knowing what was going to happen.
“It was unbelievable.
“It did put a lot of pressure on me to perform in the ring. And in the locker room there was a little bit of ‘who’s this guy’ and ‘how comes he gets a title immediately?’”
“But I thrive on pressure and backstage I tried my best to get along with everyone and prove that I’m a team player with total respect for the business.”
At first, as a babyface, the star found it hard to grow into his “overnight” character and make fans love him. He soon dropped the IC title back to Umaga and floundered a little.
But time and a heel turn transformed Santino into the best new character in the business.
His skits with Steve Austin, Jerry Lawler and Chris Jericho have had fans falling about laughing.
And, as we’ve stated on these pages before, Santino’s constant berating of Austin and his movie The Condemned have produced the funniest wrestling promos of 2007.
Marella is clearly pleased with how things have gone too.
He told us: “It took a while, but now I am very intimate with the character. I know Santino and am brining him to life in the way I envision.
“I have taken the experiences and humour of the Italian family and community I grew up in to become him.
“In the beginning I was acting like Santino but now I am Santino.
“The heel turn was also very important for me. It’s hard for a new babyface to come out and get support. You can get someone to like you, but it is much easier to make them hate you at first. I can also inject a lot more personality.”
He continues: “To work with Steve Austin was a personal and professional dream come true.
“When I was with him, just before he gave me the beer bath, I took a quick moment to look around and say: ‘Wow! I’m in the ring with Stone Cold Steve Austin.’”
Working with Maria, who plays his on-screen girlfriend, must also be a dream come true for a red-blooded male of Italian descent.
Santino goes shy, but confesses: “Maria is unbelievable. She looks good, smells good and feels good.
“She lights up every room she walks into and has a wonderful soul.
“At the end of the day when I say goodbye and give her a hug I make sure I get my money’s worth.
“She is just wonderful.”
As for what the future holds, Santino says: “Every week is just amazing. Guys like Jerry Lawler and Chris Jericho are legends in this business.
“I remember as a kid watching Jerry Lawler slapping Andy Kaufman and then years later he’s slapping me.
“And for me to see someone like Jericho, who is around my size and has achieved so much, is a complete source of inspiration.
“I sometimes wonder whether I can really achieve my goals.
“Then I look at guys like Jericho, Bret Hart and Owen Hart and I realise I can be a big success.”
If Santino continues as he has this year, we’re certain he will be.
