Can Santino become dominant, while having the comedy gimmick?

[Dr. Stinger A. Zoidberg]

This just popped into my mind. Can Santino be turned into a good wrestler while keeping his comedy gimmick? What I mean is, can Santino ever win the IC Title alone and be taken seriously. Or will he just remain the same old really funny guy that gets jobbed to everybody?

 

[Y2JFan222]

I think "Santina" has pretty much killed any chance Santino ever had.

 

[SJM12492]

Santina's hot! Anyway, I do believe that he probably won't get far in the business. But I don't think he minds, when you watch him, you can tell he's in the business of entertaining people and doesn't care about championships... The things I would do to Santina...

 

[Big Daddy Fool]

Nope, he's done. He was doomed from the get go. Debuting as just a fan who one the title thanks to a Lashley interference. They never gave him a chance in the ring and made him look like an idiot from the get go. The WWE made him nothing but a mid card comedy jobber. He lost to COusin Sal, there's no coming back from that. His only wins in what seems like the last year is sneaking out wins against divas with roll ups. There is no way he can be built as a credible wrestler and eventually the act will run up. From there I think he is destined to be a manager or maybe even a color commentator.

 

[Deexter Jorgan]

I have to agree with most of the posts here, He has no chance of main eventing even if the whole company was mysteriously killed and he was the only wrestler standing theyd probably end up putting the title on the brooklin brawler before giving Santino an honest shot.

I know im going to get alot of heat for this but the fact is Santio has never actuallty wrestled in the WWE, he has had quick matches that where either squashes or wins due to quick cheating, the truth is his only chance at accomplishing anything was during his first intercontinental run, they just ended up turning him to a comedy jobber so now his chances are over.

Just like the Honkey tonk man actually had no chance, neither does santino, he will probably end up in the comedy jobber battle royal at a wrestlemania but will never be anything but, he will probably end up quitting of seeing his future endevous at some point.

 

[Baller]

Unless they destroy his character and bring him back up as a completely differnet character such as the Russian he was in OVW he is done. The perfect thing is to repackage him as the Russian and start a tag team with Koslov and save both their sorry ass careers.

 

[supersayian]

he is far away good comedy but i say no we never could take him seriously without him busting out with jokes or laughing. to bad he could be alright mid carder

 

[pflet87413]

I disagree it is never too late, they can do it if written right, look at JBL longest running champion escaping by the skin of his teeth to keep the belt, hilarious but it worked. What miracle is going to happen to have Santino keep his belt or have him on a winning fluke streak or something. Or write it in that Santino is tired of being a joke, and hires someone to train him to wrestle better, though he is too good at comedy to give it up, but mixing comedy with a little bit of seriousness with him having a chance to win a match (against a man that is) would be good. And his first fluke win should be against someone big that would never be expected, like Khali or Big Show, better yet Cena or Triple H. Fans would never see that coming.

 

[Y2JFan222]

Santino is good at comedy skits, I admit, but I think they've simply taken it too far for him to ever be seen as anything but a joke.

The only way I could ever see Santino being taken seriously would be a complete overhaul of his gimmick. Some sort of ultra cold-blooded heel turn along the lines of laying out a legend with a steel pipe or beating his opponents to a pulp with steel chairs. Playing a "crazy heel" may bring Santino back from the brink but I just don't see it happening.

As far as Santino beating wrestlers the caliber of HHH or Cena. It'll never happen. It would do more to damage their career than it would to help Santinos.

 

[WCW Champion]

This thread doesn't make any sense. Santino is over, hillarious and is always one of my favourite parts of the show when he comes on. Trying to turn him into a "serious" wrestler seems like a waste of his talents. I think he will have a job in wrestling for a very long time and has carved out a niche position in the company. So ideas from people to team him with kozlov to "save" his career. LOL. He has made the most of his opportunity imo and i look forward to seeing santino/a for a very long time to come!

 

[48.7 is Approximately 49 Times Better Than You]

Why can't he start to win? Santino could just start to pick up wins via roll-ups in his matches, then start to actually legitimately defeat opponents. People would forget that he always loses. It just takes a few wins to get him over as a threat. Have him go over Kofi Kingston and then William Regal clean and decisively and he's now a wrestler. It's not hard.

 

[FromTheSouth]

It is too late for Santino. He has been bitched around by every wrestler in the WWE. Are we suddenly supposed to believe that the guy who loses to every legit wrestler suddenly started taking everything seriously and is now a threat?

Can you imagine the build up to a big match?

John Cena, Santino has won 22 matches in a row, are you worried about your match at Survivor Series?

John Cena: Isn't that the guy who had to use miracle roll ups twice to beat Beth Phoenix?

 

[48.7 is Approximately 49 Times Better Than You]

We fans have an incredibly short memory span, fromthesouth. Most of the casual audience would have no issue believing it. MVP went on a 20 match losing streak, losing to the likes of Funaki, yet fans were welcoming of him again once he won a couple of matches.

 

[rowdy ruben]

i think there is hope. wwe can push him nd make a fighting champion in hopes that wwe fans will forget about his goofyness. no wwe fan will ever forget but they will move on as if we did. similar to when taker went from dead man to american badass to back to dead man or mable to visera. dont 4get kane was once a dentist nd diesel

 

[ronalddeo]

I personally think Santino is our version of Goldust in this decade. Atleast golddust could wrestle and had feuds. I have nothing against santino and i hope he stays in wwe for a long time. no one has come close since the rock, who could actually make me laugh in a looong time

 

[SoniC]

I think santino has the potential... it's obvious he has his backround in judo and such and it's slowly starting to show in the ring, albeit it's against the divas... but i seriously believe the comedy bit and the wrestling could stick... main event?? more than likely not... but a serious midcard contender?? totally... i think it may happen sooner than later with the Chavo story that seems to be forming... he starts beating up on Chavo with actual technical skill, but keeps up the Goofy Foreigner bit and i'd totally buy it... mostly cause i'd like to see him get over... and i do so long for the return of the Honk-a-meter..

 

[TomSmithUK]

I thought the best chance Santino had to become legitimite was during the Honk-a-meter. They had a great comedy character, a great angle, and if they'd played it out for the full 54 weeks, they could have turned him round. First few weeks have the rollups and fluke victorys. Advance him on to getting in some decent offence before he gets the pin towards the middle, and then finally have him as a legitimite contender as you get towards the record (whether they want him to break the Honky Tonk Man's record isn't that important) you could still have him drop it the week before to someone who needs the push.

Now I think he's stuck where he is

 

[SenorAmazing]

Santino won't be something like a multiple time champion but you know what? he probly has one of the easiest jobs in the company. All he does is get out there and entertain people. He tells jokes and is basically a comedy act in the middle f the show. And what strenuous activity does he have to do? Wrestle and kiss divas. If i could be anyone in the WWE it'd be Santino he has it good.

 

[TimeLord]

DOMINANT??? He couldn't even be taken seriously. He'll never be nothing more than a mid-card comedy act.

 

[The Palace of Wisdom]

You know what? Santino has a shot. He's gotten over, and he hasn't even really shown what he can do in action. All it takes is for him to be able to showcase his actual wrestling abilities at some point. And all it takes for that is ONE match. One match, against a MAN, where although he's still a buffoon, he shows his skills. Then, he can still be a comedy wrestler, but he will be recognized as a threat by the vast majority of the audience. He doesn't even have to win the match. Just be able to show that he could be a threat at certain points, if he focused. A manager could help with that. I thought maybe a tag team with someone like Festus or Ezekiel or another big man would have benefitted him, because then he himself doesn't have to actually win matches. Just provide some laughs, and his partner does most of the work for the win.

 

[chillicothewrestlingfan]

I think the best chance that he has is winning the divas title as santina. They will milk the santina gimmick till the fans start to hate it

 

[PsychoWard]

Santino can still become something. I mean look at JBL he was a New Jack then a beer drinking ear ring wearing redneck called Bradshaw with Farooq. Then became JBL were his career really took off. He became champ blah blah blah. I agree with the others, all santino needs is to be repackaged. Kane was the Fake deisel for christ sakes, and a dentist! WWE can do anything as long as the marks believe it.

The question isn't whether he can come back... Does the WWE want him in a different roll?

 

[sevastra82]

I dont even know what his finisher is to be honest.

 

[only1soe]

I think for sure he could do well in a different role or even just evolve into something beyond where he is at now. One thing is for sure that WWE creative loves him. And I have always seen heels who are extremely hated be a face later on in their career almost to the point where they cant go heel again no matter they do. Few examples would be Flair, HBK, The Rock and even Triple H.

 

[chrisgod]

No! NO! and a thousand times NOOO!

HE is not, and never will be a dominant (or serious) wrestler... and he can't, not in this life...

And I have a lot of reasons for this one:

- Looks / size: he does not look like a credible title contender, thus meaning he SHOULD NOT be in any title matches, if he's a heel (like right now) he needs an enforcer to look like he can keep a title around his waist. If he's a face, he will always look like the underdog, or a mask-less Mysterio... I mean, open your eyes! He is just like 2 inches taller than Rey Mysterio, he looks week, and looked weak when he was a face and had matches with Umaga, and looked like the weak side when pairing with Carlito...

- Wrestling skills (selling): He is not good at selling... most of the time he oversells in a very ridiculous way, when he was a face, you just god bored of seen him overselling Umaga's moves... and as a heel is almost the same, the only difference is that now he screams and cries like a little girl (no intend to offend little girls)

- More Wrestling Skills (moveset): Again, the truth is he's had at least 30 matches since he's been in the "E" and you can recall all of the moves he's used: punch, kick, armbar, diving headbutt, headlock, rollup... 7 moves! (I can't wait for people say that if he has 7 then he has more moves than John Cena)... He never did something different as a face, he didn't have any tandem moves with Carlito, and he's not better as a heel... He's so limited that I think I've never seen him use a chair!

-More Wrestling skills (finisher): He's never had a finisher!!! only that stupid headbutt that he tried to use in a match against Maria... and failed! also, his size does not help him to chose a decent finisher...

-More Wrestling skills (stamina): the guy uses more resting holds than Randy Orton (and by more I mean more times the same headlock in a single match), he looks like he is going to collapse just after 2 or 3 minutes in a match... and all his matches are like 4 minutes long....

- Character / Gimmick: What is he going to change to his gimmick to look more agressive??? is he going to be "the italian stallion" Santino Balboa??? suddenly he will become a suplex machine? hell no...

- Credibility: he is good in the mic (sometimes, and I think his character just got old weeks before WM25), he can make a great manager for someone else... but that's it...

- Place in the card: he is not big push-worthy... there is a long list in any brand (yes, including the small roster in ECW) of people who have shown more in short matches to get midcard pushes before Santino Marella... yeah, he's still over with the crowd, but his pop is slowly dying... currently he needs to play 2 characters to get just one pop (Santino / Santina)