Santino Marella Height, Name, Weight, Age, Wife, Children, Films, Profile

Anthony Carelli (born March 14, 1974, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian professional wrestler better known by his in-ring name Santino Marella who is known for his time with WWE. He is the founder of the Canadian martial arts and professional wrestling training facility Battle Arts Academy. Santino was signed by WWE in 2005, being sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling. He is known for his humorous gimmick as Santino Marella, an Italian stereotype, often being involved in comedic segments, having several 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.

Beginnings

Santino was born in Mississauga, Ontario, to parents of Italian and Metis descent. He attended St Basil’s Catholic Elementary School, and later Philip Pocock Catholic Secondary School. 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 Tournament, back-to-back as a junior and a senior. Marella started his career on the Ontario independent circuit as Johnny Geo Basco, debuting with a disqualification win in the opening match of a Ring Wars show. In the second half of 2004, he 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.

Santino Marella in WWE

Santino made his WWE debut in 2007 in an episode of Monday Night RAW. He was presented as a fan that Vince McMahon selected as an opponent for Umaga and was billed from Milan, Italy. He made an instant impact by winning the WWE Intercontinental Championship from Umaga with an assist from Bobby Lashley. After winning the Intercontinental title, Marella feuded with Chris Masters, narrowly retaining the title in his first defences. On July 2, he dropped the title to Umaga after defeating him at Vengeance Night of Champions, by disqualification.

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Tag team success with Vladimir Kozlov

Marella and Kozlov became number one contenders for the WWE tag team titles by defeating The Usos. They unsuccessfully challenged Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater for the titles at Survivor Series. They won the tag team championship in a four-way elimination tag match on RAW beating The Nexus, The Usos and Mark Henry and Yoshi Tatsu. Marella and Kozlov retained the titles at TLC when Gabriel and Slater were disqualified after interference from Nexus member Michael McGillicutty. At Elimination Chamber, Marella and Kozlov lost the tag team titles to Gabriel and Slater.

United States Champion

Santino became the United States Champion when he defeated Jack Swagger. In the following episode of SmackDown, Marella successfully defended the title against Swagger in a steel cage match. He then successfully defended the title against Swagger and Dolph Ziggler in a Triple Threat Match. Marella then feuded with Alberto Del Rio’s ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez leading to a non-title match at No Way Out, which Marella won. On the July 27 and August 3 episodes of SmackDown, Marella lost to Cesaro in non-title matches. On August 19, on the SummerSlam pre-show, Marella lost the United States Championship to Cesaro.

Santino Marella WWE achievements

WWE Intercontinental Championship (2 times)

WWE Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Vladimir Kozlov

WWE United States Championship (1 time)

Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal (2009)

Santino Marella wife

Santino is currently married to fitness competitor Anna Babij. The two got married in November 2015. Together they have two kids. This is his second marriage. He was previously married to a woman named Petrina with whom he has a daughter named Bianca. Bianca won the Miss Teen Ontario-World pageant in 2013. Like her father, Bianca is also a wrestler. She previously wrestled for NWA and is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the NXT brand under the ring name “Arianna Grace”.

Santino Marella net worth

As of 2022, Santino Marella’s net worth is $1.5 million according to various sources on the internet. He made most of this money from his time as a wrestler in the WWE. Santino retired in 2014 after suffering a third neck injury and returned to MMA as a trainer. He also operated a gym in Canada where he served as a trainer and judo instructor. Carelli and Dan Garneau founded and sponsored the Canadian junior ice hockey team, Milton Battle Arts Cobras. The team was part of World United Hockey League. In November 2016, Santino joined the Sportsnet 360 Aftermath panel as an analyst. On May 2, 2018, Carelli debuted the weekly show Behind the Lights, alongside co-host, Destiny World Wrestling owner George Iceman on the official Impact Wrestling Twitch channel.

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