Santino Marella

Santino Marella
Marella at a Destiny Wrestling show in January 2016
Alma materConcordia University
Spouse(s)
Anna Babij
​
(m. 2015)​
Children3 (including Bianca)
Websitewww.battleartsacademy.ca
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Anthony Carelli
Boris Alexiev[1]
Johnny Geo Basco
Santina Marella[1]
Santino Marella[1]
Judge Sam Teamo[2]
Billed height6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Billed weight233 lb (106 kg)
Billed fromSan Fili, Calabria, Italy
Trained byOhio Valley Wrestling[1]
DebutAugust 17, 2002

Anthony Carelli (born March 14, 1974) is a Canadian professional wrestler and judoka. He currently works for TNA Wrestling as an authority figure. He appears under the ring name Santino Marella. He became famous in WWE, where he was a two-time Intercontinental Champion, one-time United States Champion, and one-time Tag Team Champion with Vladimir Kozlov. He played an Italian character. Outside of wrestling, Carelli owns his own judo dojo and is the official ambassador of Judo Canada.[3]

Career

Carelli was signed by World Wrestling Entertainment in 2005 for Ohio Valley Wrestling, WWE's farm territory. He made his WWE debut on the April 16, 2007 edition of WWE Raw in Milan, Italy under the name of Santino Marella (as a tribute to Robert "Gorilla Monsoon" Marella). As an Italian fan selected by Mr. McMahon, he won the Intercontinental Championship from Umaga with the help of Bobby Lashley. With this, Marella became one of a few superstars to win a title in their first main roster match.[4] He was also involved in a storyline where he worked as Santina Marella, Santino's twin sister, who would become "Miss WrestleMania" at WrestleMania XXV.

On July 6, 2014, at a live event in Toronto, Ontario, Marella announced his retirement because of a third major injury to his neck.[5] On May 6, 2016, Carelli was released from WWE because of an injury.[6][7] He returned to wrestling in 2017.

Personal life

Carelli and his former wife Petrina have a daughter, Bianca Carelli, who won the Miss Teen Ontario-World pageant in 2013.[8][9] Carelli married bikini fitness competitor Anna Babij, in November 2015.[10] His daughter Bianca wrestled for the NWA and is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the NXT brand under the ring name "Arianna Grace".

Championships and accomplishments

Santino is a two-time Intercontinental Champion...
...and a one-time United States Champion

Judo

  • Ashai Annual Tournament (2017) - Bronze[11]

Professional wrestling

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Reference
2014 Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery Santino Marella
2014 Jingle All the Way 2 Claude
2016 Countdown Himself [22]
Television
Year Title Role Notes
2016–present Aftermath Himself Panelist
2020–present Miss Persona Alfredo

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 santino-marella/ "Santino Marella's OWOW profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Santino Marella to officiate May Valentine & Aron Stevens' wedding on NWA Powerrr live". 31 January 2023.
  3. ↑ "Anthony Carelli Is Judo Canada's First Official Ambassador". Judo Canada. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Santino Marella". Mahalo. Retrieved 2010-02-23.
  5. ↑ "WWE star announces retirement". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2014-07-07.
  6. ↑ "Damien Sandow, King Barrett, Santino Marella, Hornswoggle, Alex Riley and other Superstars released". WWE. May 6, 2016. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
  7. ↑ Giri, Raj (5 November 2016). "Santino Marella's contract expired". Wrestling.inc. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  8. ↑ "Hello from Bianca Carelli, Miss Teen Ontario–World 2013". Archived from the original on 2016-06-16. Retrieved 2024-01-22.
  9. ↑ @CarelliBianca (10 May 2021). "Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful, funny and smart momma, Petrina! 🥰 love you so much!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  10. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (December 7, 2015). "December 7, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWE attempts to right the ship, New Japan tag league update, more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, California: 51. ISSN 1083-9593.
  11. ↑ "Santino Marella on Instagram: "This weekend I did something kind of crazy, I competed in my first judo tournament in about 19 years. I have been working out consistently…"". Instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-26.
  12. ↑ Eck, Kevin (December 30, 2007). "2007 Awards". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on October 26, 2020. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  13. ↑ "Ironman Heavymetalweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2016-08-29.
  14. ↑ "OVW Television Championship history". Archived from the original on 2011-04-05.
  15. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2012". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  16. ↑ "Santino Marella's first reign". WWE. Archived from the original on 2007-05-15. Retrieved 2007-04-16.
  17. ↑ "Santino Marella's second reign". WWE. Archived from the original on 2008-08-21. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
  18. ↑ "United States Championship - Santino Marella". WWE.com. Archived from the original on March 27, 2012. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
  19. ↑ "WWE Tag Team Championships - Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov". WWE.com. Archived from the original on September 30, 2013. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
  20. ↑ Raymond, Katie (April 5, 2009). "Say hello to my twin sister". WWE. Archived from the original on November 8, 2009. Retrieved April 6, 2009.
  21. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (January 26, 2011). "Biggest issue of the year: The 2011 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards Issue". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, CA: 1–40. ISSN 1083-9593.
  22. ↑ Graser, Marc (February 11, 2014). "WWE Studios and Fox Tag Team on Sequels to 'Jingle All the Way' and 'The Marine'". Variety. Retrieved December 16, 2014.

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