Santino Marella

Santino Marella
Marella in 2016
Birth nameAnthony Carelli
Born (1974-03-14) March 14, 1974 (age 50)[1]
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada[2]
Alma materConcordia University
Spouse(s)
Anna Babij
​
(m. 2015)​
Children3, including Arianna Grace
Websitewww.battleartsacademy.ca
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Anthony Carelli
Boris Alexiev[3]
Johnny Geo Basco[4]
Santina Marella[3]
Santino Marella[3]
Judge Sam Teamo[5]
Billed height5 ft 10 in (178 cm)[6]
Billed weight233 lb (106 kg)[7]
Billed fromSan Fili, Calabria, Italy
Trained byOhio Valley Wrestling[3]
DebutAugust 17, 2002

Anthony Carelli (born March 14, 1974), better known by the ring name Santino Marella, is a Canadian professional wrestler and judoka. He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he works as the on-screen director of authority. He is best known for his 11-year tenure with WWE. He is the founder of and instructor at Battle Arts Academy, a martial arts and professional wrestling training facility in Mississauga, Ontario, and the official ambassador of Judo Canada.[8]

Carelli was signed by World Wrestling Entertainment in 2005, being assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling, WWE's farm territory. He made his debut on Raw during a live episode from Milan, Italy. Under the character of Santino Marella, a fan selected from the audience, he defeated the Intercontinental Champion Umaga, winning the title in his debut match. During the following years, he would win the Intercontinental title one more time, the United States Championship once and the WWE Tag Team Championship once. He was also involved in a storyline where he worked as Santina Marella, Santino's twin sister. Carelli retired from in-ring competition in 2014 and left WWE the following year. After his release, he opened Battle Arts Academy and worked for Impact Wrestling. In 2017, he made sporadic matches on the independent circuit, as well as occasional appearances in WWE. In 2023, Carelli made his return to Impact, now under the TNA banner.

Carelli is known for his humorous gimmick as Santino Marella, an Italian stereotype, often being involved in comedic segments, having several on-screen relationships with fellow wrestlers, as well as being crowned "Miss WrestleMania" at WrestleMania XXV disguised as "Santina Marella." His character won Carelli Wrestling Observer Newsletter's award for Best Gimmick in 2007 and 2008.

  1. ^ Saalbach, Axel. "Wrestlingdata.com - The World's Largest Wrestling Database". wrestlingdata.com.
  2. ^ Andrews, Kenai (February 3, 2008). "La Vita è Bella for Santino". SLAM! Sports. Archived from the original on December 16, 2012. Retrieved February 5, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ a b c d santino-marella/ "Santino Marella's OWOW profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Cornette was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Santino Marella to officiate May Valentine & Aron Stevens' wedding on NWA Powerrr live". 31 January 2023.
  6. ^ https://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=3689&gimmick=Santino+Marella [bare URL]
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference WWEP was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "Anthony Carelli Is Judo Canada's First Official Ambassador". Retrieved 2022-06-01.