Santino Marella

[jasu]

I miss the good old days when the ic title was something very special and you had to earn it. Now a "fan" can win the ic title just like that ... guys like chavo, matt hardy, helms havent even come close to touching that belt yet and now this santino guy comes in as a fan to win it. That makes the belt look weak and its not that santino has no talent because i know hes from OVW but imo id rather have him beat umaga as a wrestler, not as a fan.

 

[Prax]

Jeff deserved it, Umaga didn't. Umaga to my recollection defended it twice, one of these he lost. it's lost it's prestige which was starting to build up again with Jeff, but ike I said it's too early to tell.

In retrospect his title reign was kind of novel, yes, but you can't say his run in WWE didn't merit him getting a title shot. You gotta look at it from a fictional perspective... which is what I try to do instead of being cynical all the time. Logically... considering he was undefeated or almost in WWE... it only made sense that he'd eventually get an IC title shot, especially since he was Mcmahon's boy. And logically he would beat hardy, sine he came close to beating the WWE champion. I don't think it was unmerited at all actually.

It not like Umaga doesn't have skill either. He plays his role to perfection and wrestles the style perfectly.

Even if you don't agree with Umaga, who else had an "unmerited" title run?

 

[Prax]

I was really excited when this guy won. The angle was interesting and it was even better since it was in his country. I am glad he didnt come as a ethnicity thats not really his. Fricken Muhammed Hussan was ITALIAN and I, being an Arab-American, was offended when i found out he wasnt arabic.

Ok I obviously don't want to make this into a racial issue but I'm just curious... why were you offended that he wasn't arabic? He's playing a role on television, and he did it pretty damn well also. It was actually one of the best done angles in the last 4 or 5 years in WWE.

Marella played a Russian mobster in OVW... I doubt any russians were offended.

 

[wp2 4 life]

OK so this this is what wwe says about him ?????? As 4 his look I like in the ring don't know yet time will tell.

Santino Marella wins Intercontinental Championship
By Zack Zeigler
Written: April 17, 2007MILAN, Italy— An earth-rattling applause erupted inside DatchForum Monday night after Italian native Santino Marella accomplished the impossible at the country’s first-ever Raw: Marella defeated Umaga for the Intercontinental Championship (with help from ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley), and became the first-ever walk-on competitor to unseat a WWE title holder.

In what can only be described as an underdog story reminiscent of the “Italian Stallion” Rocky Balboa, Marella overcame insurmountable odds in a No Holds Barred Match with one of sports-entertainment’s most savage Superstars. Handpicked from the sold-out DatchForum crowd to respond to Mr. McMahon’s open challenge, Marella stunned both the WWE Chairman and Umaga with his speed, agility and toughness. However, it was Lashley’s assistance that proved to be the crucial element Marella needed to walk out of the ring with Intercontinental gold strapped around his waist.

Taking full advantage of the No Holds Barred stipulation declared by Mr. McMahon, Lashley subdued the 350-pound Samoan with a steel chair to the skull, followed by a thunderous spear that bulldozed Umaga off his feet. The ECW World Champion then pulled a dazed Marella across the sapped Samoan Bulldozer. As referee Chad Patton slammed his hand down on the canvas for a third time, the arena exploded in a three-minute, ear-shattering ovation. Chants of “Santino” reverberated throughout the DatchForum as Lashley raised the awestruck newcomer’s arm in the middle of the ring.

After the match, WWE.com caught up with Marella in the locker room area. Still covered head-to-toe in sweat, icing his bruised body and fighting back tears of joy, he was simply astonished at what had just taken place.

“It’s unbelievable,” he said, clutching his title, barely able to muster a syllable without bursting into tears. “I’m speechless.”

Marella may call his victory and the circumstances surrounding it unbelievable; others might label it fate. Though born in Calabria, a city located near the “toes” of Italy’s boot shape, Marella spent most of his adult life thousands of miles away in Canada, returning to Italy a few times each year to visit his father Francesco and other family members residing in Milan. The lure of a career in sports-entertainment had sent him packing for the United States, where he vowed that he’d one day break into the pinnacle of the industry that fascinated him — World Wrestling Entertainment. He never envisioned, however, that his latest trip to his home country would allow him to fulfill a lifelong dream of becoming a WWE Superstar.

On Raw Monday night, Santino Marella not only achieved his personal goal, he rewrote history in the process. His triumphs have proven to his family, his homeland and the world that through the power of desire, a touch of happenstance and, of course, with a little outside help from Bobby Lashley, anything in life is possible.

 

[Downward Spiral]

I absolutely never agree with the WWE putting titles on debuting wrestlers. It completely devalues the credibility the titles have and also, devalues the wrestlers that are actually there for years on end trying to win a title. In the mid cards, you don't see many Intercontinental champions anymore and that is because the belt is thrown on people who don't defend it week in and week out like they are meant to. In saying that I normally disagree with this move, I see putting the title on the debuting Santino Morella as an interesting move that could pay off in the long run. For one, it gets the title off of Umaga, who was a terrible champion to hold the mid card title as he wasn't even part of the mid cards in the first place and didn't defend it once. Getting it on someone like Morella who is destined for the mid cards will ensure that we see a decent champion that will add focus to the belt by defending it, and for once they may have a feud that restores value to it.

A problem I see with this move is also that the WWE fans won't buy a fan that beats the unbeatable monster in the WWE and suddenly can wrestle a match properly the next week. It could be a risky move but once they establish Morella as one of the wrestlers, the fans will forget where he came from. It was good to see the WWE let him win it in his hometown in Italy, where the fans were bound to cheer him and could lead American crowds to do the same as well. It lost a little of Umaga's momentum but he had to lose the belt one way or another and I think they did it in the least destructive way possible with Lashley assisting. This probably opens the door for Umaga to win the ECW title, but that's another thing. I can't judge Morella from the few kicks he put in but we will be sure to see his skill next week as he hopefully adds some revitalisation to the IC division.

 

[jokeboy624]

On ECW the next night it was "revealed" that Santino was in Cananda for years training to be wrestler and he just happened to go home to visit his family, when they went to Raw. The rest is history...

I think this is a great angle and I very excited to see where they take it. I'm a still a little leary, but the WWE has been suprising me lately, with the Hardys winning the Tag Titles, the Fatal Four Way (which looks like they might take the belt off of Cena), Carlito's inevitable heel turn, CM Punk's actual heel turn and now this...I'm very intrigued to see how things go down over the next few weeks

 

[FTWChamp]

Yes but how can you love it. WWE has been so damn "predictable" lately. Reading some of these posts kill me. The same people who are bitching and moaning about WWE being so predictable do not want to give credit to the company when they do something out of the ordinary. Honestly I'm more of a TNA fan now than I am a WWE fan because of how predictable the company has become....but I've got to give the devil his due.

Just like the last post said, we're seeing the I-C title taken off Umaga when I thought he would hold it for months and the title wouldn't mean shit for months, yet we give it to a new young talent and people still bitch. Would you rather see it go back to someone like Carlito, Shelton Benjamin, or Johnny Nitro? Of course we would, these guys are more proven....but wait....Nitro and Benjamin are heels and Umaga's a heel. Hmmm, oh yeah Benjamin and Carlito are also currently wrestling in the tag team division. Who else would you rather see get the title on Raw? Seriously, I would like to know. God forbid we give to a new guy with talent who can run with it and have a storyline built around him and another challenger. Lets keep it on Umaga who never defends it. That's a great idea!

What else has happened? We see Ken Kennedy win the MITB when most people would have thought Edge or Orton would have won the match. This ensures Kennedy a world title which is well deserved.

Again we see the Hardys win the tag team titles. Who saw that coming? Another title that didn't mean shit going to a couple of guys who can have a storyline built around their title defenses. But lets keep them on Cena and Michaels who never defend the fucking belts.

Oh yeah we also see an opportunity for Cena to finally lose the title but we all knew a 4 way title match was coming at Backlash right guys.....

Oh and we see Punk turn heel. The best thing that could possibly happen for his character after being lost in mid-card status for a brand that could gravely use him at his best, which is in the heel role.

The WWE is so damn predictable....I wish they would do something out of the norm. Oh wait they do and people still shit on it. It's rediculous. I'm not even as big a fan of WWE at this point as I have been for as long as I can remember, but again give the devil his due. Vince is starting to make things a little more interesting.

 

[Prax]

Amen brother. I was on the edge of my seat watching the start of RAW last night. Never in a million years did I think they would do something like that, and I loved it!

 

[Shadowmancer]

^ Spam. say why you agree.
As for Santino Marella, Im going to be taking a keen interest in the way they develop him from being a fan in the crowd through to credible wrestler. Is he going to be playing a cut-and-dry Face or his he going to be interesting in the way he plays the face, I sort of agree with the way they introduced him, but they should of had him win in a standard match, with Lashley coming out to beat the shit out of Umaga afterwards. But I will hold off on judgement of him as IC champ until he is placed in a feud over the belt and see how it goes. I wonder who he will be feuding with Carlito and Johnny Nitro are the obvious choices here, but It would be interesting if they place him in a program with Kenny Dykstra or Val Venis(as a credible threat not a Jobber).