Santino Marella

Anthony Carelli (born March 14, 1974) is a Canadian judoka and semi-retired professional wrestler. He is known for his 11-year tenure with WWE where he wrestled under the ring name Santino Marella. 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.

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 and the WWE Tag Team Championship. He was also involved in a storyline where he worked as Santina Marella, Santino's twin sister. Carelli retired 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.

Anthony 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 Newsletters award for Best Gimmick in 2007 and 2008.

Early life

Anthony Carelli was born in Mississauga, Ontario, to a family of Italian and Métis descent. He attended St Basil's Catholic Elementary School, and later Philip Pocock Catholic Secondary School and Concordia University. Carelli trained in judo at the age of nine and also competed in high school wrestling, winning the Region of Peel Secondary School Athletic Association (ROPSSAA) Tournament, back-to-back as a junior and a senior.

Professional wrestling career

Independent circuit (2002–2005)

Anthony Carelli started his career on the Ontario independent circuit as Johnny Geo Basco, debuting with a disqualification win over Xhibit (now Rico Montana) in the opening match of a Ring Wars show in Orangeville, Ontario, on August 17, 2002. In the second half of 2004, Carelli wrestled four matches for Battlarts in Japan, as Johnny Geo Basco. By this time he also competed in mixed martial arts, in which he claimed in 2006 to have a 6–1 record, although only one fight is confirmed.

World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE

Ohio Valley Wrestling (2005–2007)

In 2005, Anthony Carelli (as Johnny Geo Basco) began training at Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), a developmental territory for World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE). In July, during a storyline where he was supposed to act afraid of The Boogeyman, but instead laughed, Anthony Carelli was shouted at and slapped by Jim Cornette, OVW's head booker and co-owner. This incident led to Cornette being fired as OVW booker by WWE.

Under OVW's new booker, Paul Heyman, Anthony Carelli adopted the gimmick of Boris Alexiev, a Russian shootfighter/mixed martial artist. On October 29, he lost his debut OVW match, teaming with Aaron Stevens against Chet the Jet and Chris Cage. Alexiev made his TV debut on April 12, 2006, managed by his "comrade", Mr. Strongko and defeating Mo Sexton. He was booked to dominate opponents with stiff strikes and submission style wrestling. He had a 10-second win over a wrestler named Dewey. He signed a developmental contract with WWE on August 11, 2006, and continued training in OVW.

On January 24, 2007, Alexiev won the OVW Television Championship from Mike Kruel, who was defending in place of champion Eddie Kraven. He lost it back to Kruel on February 7, and regained it from him on March 14. Three days later, he dropped it to Shawn Spears. He was called up to the WWE roster a month later.

Intercontinental Champion and Glamarella (2007–2009)

Anthony Carelli debuted as Santino Marella (a homage to WWE Hall of Famer Robert "Gorilla Monsoon" Marella) on the April 16, 2007 episode of '' Raw'' from Milan, Italy. He was presented as a fan that Vince McMahon selected as an opponent for Umaga. The unknown Marella scored a surprising upset, and won the WWE Intercontinental Championship with an assist from Bobby Lashley. The next day, WWE.com posted a profile on Marella, saying he was an Italian national who moved to Canada as a child and returned to his native country a few times each year to visit family. The profile claimed that he moved to the U.S. to pursue a wrestling career with WWE. Shortly after winning the Intercontinental title, Marella feuded with Chris Masters, narrowly retaining the title in his first defenses. On July 2, he dropped the title to Umaga, after defeating him on June 24, at Vengeance: Night of Champions, by disqualification.

Marella then began a gradual heel turn and became increasingly jealous of his girlfriend, Maria. Over several weeks, they appeared together in a series of segments on ''Raw'', including two "game show" skits, hosted by General Manager William Regal, which resulted in retired wrestler Ron Simmons winning a date with Maria, to Santino's dismay. Marella began a publicity campaign against the WWE Films production, '' The Condemned'', as its DVD release neared. He was eventually confronted by the film's star, Steve Austin, who argued the film's merits before delivering a Stone Cold Stunner to Marella and hosing him and Maria with beer. During the Austin angle, Marella repeatedly mocked him and his catchphrases in humorously broken English, starting a new comedic trend in his gimmick. After a short angle with Jerry Lawler, which included Lawler hitting his signature fist drop maneuver after Marella lost a match to the returning Chris Jericho on the November 26 episode of ''Raw'', Marella formed a tag team with Carlito.

Around this time, Maria was offered a photo shoot for ''Playboy'' magazine. After unsuccessfully persuading her to decline it, Marella tried to sabotage the cover unveiling (an in-ring segment of ''Raw''), causing Maria to dump him. At WrestleMania XXIV, Maria had a "Playboy BunnyMania Lumberjack match". Santino interfered near the end of the match, pulling Maria off of a pin, and was punched by Jerry Lawler. After the match (which Maria's team lost), he was clotheslined by guest "Master of Ceremonies", Snoop Dogg. The next night on ''Raw'', Maria wrestled Marella. Seven other women ganged up on him, and held his legs apart for Maria to headbutt his testicles and pin him. This ended their feud. Marella and Carlito then feuded with Hardcore Holly and Cody Rhodes over the World Tag Team Championship. During a title match between them, Roddy Piper distracted Marella, who was then pinned. This sparked a rivalry with Piper, which included a confrontation on ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!''.

On the July 14, 2008 episode of ''Raw'', Marella lost to Beth Phoenix, who had answered his open challenge. On the next episode, after he lost another open challenge to the returning D'Lo Brown, Marella and Phoenix kissed, both looking confused afterward. Over the next few weeks, they became a parody of a " power couple", soon called "Glamarella" (a portmanteau

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