On the July 14, 2008 episode of Raw, Marella issued an open challenge to any WWE wrestler backstage, which was answered by Phoenix, who managed to defeat him.[1] The storyline continued the following week after Marella lost to the returning D-Lo Brown. Phoenix confronted Marella after the match, and they briefly grappled with each other before unexpectedly sharing a kiss, to which both expressed considerable confusion.[2] The two then became an on-screenpower couple, and the pairing of Phoenix and Marella later became known by the portmanteau Glamarella. Within the team, Phoenix acted as the "straight-woman" of sorts, berating Marella or reacting in disbelief to his over-the-top, embarrassing antics. At SummerSlam, Glamarella defeated Kofi Kingston and Mickie James in an intergender tag team match. Phoenix pinned James, winning the Women's Championship, while Marella won Kingston's Intercontinental Championship.[3] Marella then sought to become the "greatest Intercontinental champion of all the times" 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).
Phoenix successfully defended the Women's Championship against Candice Michelle at the No Mercy on October 5, and just a few weeks later at Cyber Sunday, Marella was disqualified during his title match with The Honky Tonk Man (who fans voted for over other former champions Roddy Piper and Goldust).[4][5] On the November 10 episode of Raw, after a reign of twelve weeks and one day, Marella lost the title to William Regal.[6] At Survivor Series in November, Phoenix was team captain of the victorious Raw Diva team which defeated the SmackDown Divas in a five-on-five elimination match; she eliminated Maryse and became the sole survivor of the team.[7] On December 8, Phoenix received the "Slammy Award" for Diva of the Year.[8] Phoenix then began feuding with Melina, and the storyline included the debut of Rosa Mendes, who was introduced as Phoenix's "superfan". At the Royal Rumble in January 2009, Phoenix lost the Women's Championship to Melina.[9] Later that same night, 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.
Separation and Miss WrestleMania feud (2009)
Around this time, Marella's humour proved popular with audiences, leading to a gradual face turn while still being associated with Phoenix. In the lead-up to WrestleMania 25, it was announced that a "Miss WrestleMania" battle royal would take place at the event to crown the inaugural "Miss WrestleMania", with Marella expressing his desire to compete in the match despite being a man, which brought him to odds with Phoenix. At the event on April 5, both Phoenix and Marella (competing in drag as his self-alleged twin sister "Santina Marella") competed in the battle royal; despite scoring 12 eliminations, more than any other participant, Phoenix was the last one eliminated by Marella, who was crowned the winner and Miss WrestleMania.[10] The following night on Raw, Glamarella was disbanded after Phoenix confronted "Santina" and challenged "her" to a match, which Marella won. The feud culminated at Backlash where "Santina" retained her Miss WrestleMania title against Phoenix in just three seconds, with help from The Great Khali.
Sporadic run-ins (2011; 2020)
After nearly two years without crossing paths, Marella and Phoenix appeared together in a backstage segment at Capitol Punishment on June 19, 2011 with "Barack Obama" (in reality being known Obama impersonatorReggie Brown).
On January 26, 2020 at the Royal Rumble, both Marella and Phoenix competed in the women's Royal Rumble match (with Marella wrestling under his "Santina" persona), with Marella becoming the first male to enter the women's Royal Rumble, crossing paths with each other when Marella got startled by Phoenix and her partnerNatalya confronting him, leading to Marella eliminating himself via his own "Cobra" finishing move. Phoenix herself would last over 23 minutes before being eliminated by Shayna Baszler and finishing in third place.[11]
