Santino Marella ---> Boris Alexiev?

[RobL15]

Before joining the WWE, Santino was part of OVW. Except he wasn't Santino. He was Boris Alexiev.

This guy was a Russian athlete, that dominated his opponents. Unlike Santino. He won many matches. Unlike Santino. Take a look at this video;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZMrOV22rRc

What I'm trying to get at, and I know it's a fuckin' long shot is;
Could Santino Marella;
1) Ever go back to being Boris Alexiev?
2) If no, could he ever wrestle like this, as Santino?
3) If yes to 2, how would you turn into some sort of storyline?

 

[Dean Winchester]

Sadly WWE messed him up so only way that happens if he was off television for awhile and was forgotten then repckaged. Or went to TNA and they turned him into that gimmck.

 

[THE SWAG]

that would be nice to see that gimmick, not too many good submission guys any more

edit: they should do it where he learned all this from kozlov that would be great

 

[Y2JChrisJericho]

I've been wanting this to happen for awhile now but at the same time I don't mind the comedic Santino. Just because a guy is funny doesn't mean he should be a jobber though, but this gimmick can work especially with tag teaming with another Russian like Kozlov

 

[RicSpade]

Well honestly if you want them to repackage Santino here is the three ways to do it.

1. Santino cuts a promo saying hes tired of being the laughing stock of the WWE, and he is going back to his roots of who he really is (kinda like Johnny Nitro turning into John Morrison).

2. Santino starts training and while comical at times ends up with all of his credible moves that actually makes him look good.

3. Have him get kofied like he did with Cena and realize his accent is fake and start tweaking him as who he really is.

Either way Santino is comfortable being Santino I mean if your on TV every week your obviously doing something right...

 

[JJ15776]

Of course he can. This is sports entertainment. You can turn anybody into anything anytime you want. Look at how many different versions of Triple H we've seen over the years. There's been at least 4 completely different characters. Look at the transformations the Undertaker has gone through - those were far more drastic than Santino changing from what he is now back to what he was in OVW.

But the real question is, should he? He's a funny, charismatic guy, and he's great for the role he's in now. Why change it? People pay too much attention to wins and losses. He's doing fine in the role he's in.

 

[RobL15]

^^ I agree, but I think you want someone who can wrestle to entertain & not just make you laugh by putting on a funny voice.

 

[theundisputedY2D2]

I think if you wanted to have Santino taken more seriously as a wrestler then they could do a segment where Kozlov says something along the lines of "We tried it your way, it didn't work. Now we're going to do it my way" only with fewer words and a Ukrainian accent.

From there they could shoot a few training montages or whatever before introducing the new, more serious Santino Marella. I guess the only trouble with that is the training thing could be a bit corny and Kozlov sucks so I don't know if anyone would buy into the fact that he's trying to teach someone.

 

[Wainy]

I don't think a complete transformation would be in anyway beneficial to Santino, this is WWE were talking about here, & we all know that wrestling skills & a decent move set get you no-where! While I wouldn't mind the idea of Santino "picking up a few things" from Kozlov, to ruin one of the best comedy gimmicks in wrestling history would be a stupid move on behalf of both Santino & WWE

 

[undeadman]

the way I would get Santino to start to actually wrestle and win matches (and you could apply this to anyone one in his situation) is that I would use the MIz.

Think about the Miz cashing in money in the bank at wrestlemania after the main event and then losing. The next night on Raw Miz is walking back stage past the usual comedy guys (Santino, Gold dust, Rider, etc). They all make fun of him not winning the title. We then cut to the ring and Miz comes out. He starts going on about how the guys in the back are making fun of him, yet he has now main evented at wrestle mania. Something they they can only dream of doing. He goes on to say they are a joke and why are they even in the business if they don't want to reach for titles. He then starts focusing on one of these guys...Santino. How he came to the WWE and won the IC title and now look at him...completely humiliating him until Santino goes nuts and takes him out. The next week santino can attack the Miz during a match and then grab the mike and say that Miz and the rest of the roster will regret unleashing him....he then goes onto a competitive run.

 

[HBKevin]

I hope they do re-package Santino one day. He's actually a good wrestler; he showed that in his early days.

 

[Johnny Scumm]

Well, at Survivor Series, we heard Santino say that Kozlov had been teaching him some Sambo skills, and we did see them come into play in the Tag Team match against Gabriel/Slater.

I've a feeling that over the next few weeks, we are REALLY going to see Santino shine. I believe that we may even see him become Alexiev, if not, Santino with a really fuckin' cool moveset.