The Characters of Carelli

[Ziirox]

As we all know, Mick Foley had three "Faces". Mankind, Dude Love, and Cactus Jack. They were known as the "Faces of Foley". Everyone knew it was Foley, but each character was unique in it's own way that fans accepted each face. Could this type of character transformation and gimmick work for Anthony Carelli (aka Santino Marella)?

A little background on Carelli. Anthony Carell is a Canadian born Italian wrestler. Before he debuted in Milan to defeat Umaga for the Intercontinental Title, he was Boris Alexiev, Russian Special Forces Trained fighter.

Here is a video of the gimmick: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZMrOV22rRc

Many people on these forums have grown tired of the Santino Marella character. Would a gimmick change work for Carelli/Marella? Do you think Carelli could come up with another character?

Personally, I think he could pull it off. I'm just not exactly sure he's to the level in his career that Foley was at when his "Faces" were changing.

 

[GelBrache]

He doesn't need a character change. Whether you like his character or not, he is over. Apparently he is set for a return tonight. If they give him a full entrance, the crowd will jump when his music hits.

I don't see anything wrong with his character. He provides comic relief and can also put on great matches. (Elimination Chamber)

He also has shown a serious side as Santino before and that's all that he really needs, just a slight tweak, not a full gimmick change.

Also, next time you think a fighter gimmick will work. Just think about Sylvester Terkay, Orlando Jordon, Vladimir Kozlov, and what happened to Wade Barrett.

 

[Slash-LN]

I think he would have to work really hard to shed his comedy character. I remember a few years back he did an interview talking about how in the future he would start showcasing his in ring ability and focus less on the comedy stuff and people would have to accept it.

One thing that worked in Mick's favor was a lot of people knew Cactus Jack and for those who didn't there was a lot of video to show for people to see the differences between Cactus Jack and Mankind. So people could get excited about the change. I think bringing in the Dude Love character was great because it was a way to humiliate Mick which then led him back to being a face.

Honestly I know it's cliche but for this to work for Santino he would probably have to turn heel and become serious. He could do the typical promo talking about how the fans turned him into a joke but didn't respect him. He could talk about his martial arts background. I could see him kind of like a Ken Shamrock or 90s heel Bob Backlund type where they would "snap". Just have him break people down and give him a submission hold that he doesn't release like they both had.

 

[Mac Attack]

I made a thread like this two months ago saying he could be world heavyweight champion and it recieved mixed opinions like most threads do however I do agree he can easily create a new character if he so chose to. Clearly like many will say it would be hard to shed the comedy character that he is but at the end of the day I think it's possible it would just need work.

He has the ring talent for a change, he has the mix skills (both Italian accent and normal accent) and can read crowds well so I'm sure he'd put a good effort into it. I think a heel turn for him could indeed be interesting if they're it be and whilst WHC might be overkill a new character for the midcard could legitametly work.

He's that talented.

 

[MCMG]

This could possibly work but the main question is has his reputation been damaged beyond repair. Santino in his comedy persona is hardly someoen that can be taken seriously and I'm unsure if, even with a slight gimmick change, people can get over that.

Personally, I think that Santino could be a valuable mid-carder if he changed his gimmick. I had never realised that he had was once portraying a Russian and it looks very impressive. I wonder if rotating between the Italian and the Russian gimmicks could work. It wouldn't do any harm to his career - he is hardly at the top as it is.

 

[fenderjapan]

Mick Foley came up as Cactus Jack, and then started in WWF as Mankind, who was initially a much more serious character than he came to be.

Santino is virtually only known as a comedy jobber.

I don't think that reputation can be reversed...not without a mask or something.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I think it could work, but if Santino went down that route people on these forums would just immediately complain that it was yet another recycled storyline from the past, and whine and moan. You all know I'm right.

I am not a Santino fan, never have been. I find his mic work pretty funny sometimes but I really don't enjoy him in the ring, although the Cobra makes me laugh every now and again. He is really over with the fans though, so it would make sense for WWE to do something with him again.

If they went with something like this, I think just something as simple as having his personality change mid-match to a more aggresive angry Santion would be the way to go, or a Jekyll & Hyde persona where you never know if the serious or comedy Santino will show up, rather than having 2 completely different characters like a Mankind/Cactus Jack.

 

[ocekit]

Maybe it's because I really enjoy Santino, but I don't understand the forum's desire to make Santino serious. While some people on the forums might be tired of him, the crowd is fully behind him every week. That's why I don't think he needs to be tweaked very much, if at all.

Yeah, Santino is a funny character, but he's also a great wrestler. He gets people into his matches and the crowd loves him. Heck, he's more over than the majority of the roster. And when he's given the opportunity to actually go in the ring, the man can go. In the Elimination Chamber when he ended up against Daniel Bryan at the end, he didn't look lost or even too out of place against him and the crowd was on the edge of their seats.

I think if Santino made a slight change from complete goofball to goofball who can still outsmart the opponent and get a string of solid wins (as opposed to fluke/lucky wins), he could easily be a great upper-midcard guy. Perhaps one of those guys in main event matches who is unlikely to win, but doesn't look out of place there. He could even be in World Heavyweight Championship picture if WWE so chose. I wouldn't mind Santino vs. ADR, Santino vs RVD, or Santino vs. Sandow.

If WWE does feel the need to make Santino more "serious," then I agree with Triple Naitch:

If they went with something like this, I think just something as simple as having his personality change mid-match to a more aggresive angry Santion would be the way to go, or a Jekyll & Hyde persona where you never know if the serious or comedy Santino will show up, rather than having 2 completely different characters like a Mankind/Cactus Jack.

Santino having a full separate personality a la Mick Foley doesn't seem all that necessary.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

The thing is that it's hard to take him seriously as a contender for anything major above IC/US level and the push he SEEMS to be getting indicates they might want to do that with him. After all he's as good as any of the faces wrestling wise and will get the crowd hot against someone like Del Rio, indeed he, RVD and Ricardo as a stable would have something to offer.

At the moment they have an out if they want to serious up anyone - they work for Triple H or he starts picking on them (Drew will be next to "join" when he doesn't get into the tag match at NOC)... If D Bry isn't company material then neither will Santino be in his current form... someone suggested new gimmick matches in another thread and I can easily see the "Milan Miracle" match, where Santino has to beat the Shield 3 on 1, then the Wyatts and then Big Show or Orton/ADR for the title...

They can't suddenly make him himself or his Russian character, but they can have him go a little more serious by standing up for himself, maybe taking the sock puppet out of the Cobra and getting a new move (why they think dressing up a jab to the throat as kid friendly is a good idea is beyond me!) and perhaps slowly but surely "winning people over" rather than a sustained push... You mention Elimination Chamber, I think everyone watching that match at some point not only got won over that Santino COULD win it but that he might JUST do it... of course we were not gonna see it then, but the emotion was there - the reaction was there, with a bit of planning and build, why can't that happen? He can't be any worse than ADR with the belt...

 

[Dagger Dias]

Santino is talented enough to pull off another character, although if he does he would need to sever all ties to the Santino Marella persona completely. That character is a 100% joke and can never be taken seriously. This is a shame since his promos are incredibly funny. That is what happens when you book a gimmick to lose in quick fashion constantly for 6 years. He's pulled off multiple gimmicks at once during the monstrosity of a storyline from 2009 where he played his sister Santina and himself simultaneously. I'd rather he either return as himself or as a completely different persona.

Santino found his calling. He should return as the comedy jobber we all love to laugh at. His jokes are funny, he's good for enhancement talent if somebody needs a win, and an occasional victory here and there is fine as he was fairly over. He got something as ridiculous as The Cobra over for goodness sakes. I have no issues with him continuing to be a jobber's jobber, that and making us laugh are what he is good at. I would support him trying out a new character if he wishes to, it's not like 3MB cannot take over for the comedy jobber role (even though I wish all 3 of them had a better spot on the roster at the moment). As long as he goes for something very different. If it doesn't work out, bring the comedy jobber Santino Marella back.