What happened to Santino?

[hitmanhart]

He had a great debut and went on to become the Intercontinental champion, all while having the crowd eating out of his hands. Each and every time he walked down that aisle, fans were entertained (besides those waste-of-air-time segments involving 'santina'...let's just keep that in the past).

What happened? Santino didn't even make an appearance on RAW last night, and for the last little while all he has had are 2 minute segments backstage. The guy's not Goldust, he's a good wrestler who is excellent on the mic, and puts the "E" in "WWE".

My questions are, why do you think Santino has gone from IC champ to no appearance on RAW, and what will the future hold?

 

[patdsez]

Well you're right about one thing, he's not Goldust. He's not even in the same league as Goldust. Goldust is one of the most successful gimmicks/characters in the Attitude era and beyond. I like Santino, but even at this late stage in his career Goldust is more entertaining both in and out of the ring. Santino is funny, but he can't work a match to save his life. In my eyes, Goldust is a Hall of Famer.

 

[AttitudeEra]

I may be in the minority but I think Santino deserves a push. He has wrestled on Superstars a couple times in the last month and has gotten some of the best pops of the night, including multiple Santino chants. Now I know it's not all about fan reaction but if utilized properly Santino could become a big thing in the Mid-card level. In response, to his wrestling ability when he first debuted and defended his IC title, he was decent to pretty good in the ring. So he has the ability but because of the way his character is right now he is a comedy act. A comedy act that the fans enjoy very much, IMO. So if creative decides to finally make something of Santino then I think his in ring ability will finally be used again to go along with the comedy!

 

[brochester8]

I agree, don't compare Santino to Goldust, although Santino is entertaining. In my opinion Goldust is one of the best gimmicks ever and he deserves a push and not just a comedy role. Both are funny and I think that is why WWE uses them. I just wish Goldust got a bigger push and didn't just job to everyone on ECW.

 

[Klown_Karnage]

I have to say that to compare Goldust and Santino is to compare apples to oranges. These wrestlers are two completely different kinds of fruit. (Sorry, couldn't resist that one. I'm thoroughly ashamed.) Back on task, Goldust may be a comedy act right now, but he's capable of a very sinister and somewhat frightening side. He was called the Prince of Perversity for a reason and I think that side of him is being rather underused (probably because the WWE doesn't want to risk being too controversial at this point) and while his gimmick is still fairly entertaining and fun, it's gotten a little bit one-dimensional. I think they need to bring some complexity back into his character.

As for Santino, very different type of wrestler. Okay, so his wrestling when getting the upper-hand needs some work. (Consequently, does Santino have any sort of finishing move? It's been so long since he's had a decisive win that I've never seen it in use if he does.) When he's losing, I have to say this, that's when Santino shines. He makes his agony believable and can do a better pain-ridden squeal than anyone in the WWE. Bar none. He's great on the mic, especially in butchering the English language while still making himself understood. If he were to ever leave the WWE, I think he'd still have a promising future as a stand up comic. I think if he were to work on his wrestling and actually be given a chance to have a couple of decisive wins, not just quick roll-ups and disqualifications, he might actually get the push he needs. He needs a storyline with a bit more meat than just being the Glamazon's pet and following in Harvey Whippleman's footsteps with his cross dressing phase.

 

[Kenny Powers]

Santino is the Harvey Whipleman or Brooklyn Brawler of WWE. He is not even in the same league as Goldust. Santino will show up every now and then, trying to get the celebrities over. Which never works. When he was IC champ making fun of the Honky Tonk Man that was entertaining. The last few weeks he has just been stripping to ZZ Top and playing scrabble with Shaq. I like Santino as a midcard heel myself when he was champ. I think WWE is just going to use Santino as a jobber like Eugene.

 

[klunderbunker]

This is simple: people realized he never does anything and is replaceable. At the end of the day, people want to see wrestling, not comedy. Santino was a comedy act and nothing more. The joke got old and people moved on. Sicne the day he stated I said he couldn't do this forever. He might get one more short push, but his days in the ring as anything of note are over. He never did anything of note as a serious wrestler so why should we have to put up with him? In short, the joke got old just like we said it would, plain and simple.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

^^^ And not only was he a comedy act, but it was a very poor one at that. He should have had the choker cane pull him off the stage a long time ago. The skits he did with ZZ Top were among some of the worst comedic segments I've seen in WWE history. I can't imagine anyone thought they were actually remotely funny, except for Vince McMahon, of course, who undoubtedly played a big part in those segments.

I, for one, am glad that Santino wasn't on Raw on Monday, and I hope he stays off for a lot longer. He's outlived his usefulness and perhaps its time for him to be future endeavored. The only reason he was even called up to the Main Roster was because Vince thought he had a convincing Italian accent when he was on speaker phone with him in OVW, for that IC Title change gimmick while playing the "random fan in the crowd" who challenged Umaga.

 

[Macca]

Shut-a-yo-face Rodney The Piper!

To be honest, I'm pretty disapointed by this as well. Santino have great comedic timing, but he's just not been given the right material. I think we can all agree he was 10 times better as a heel, feuding with Austin, Cena, the Divas. That's the problem with creative turning heels to faces. They take the qualities that we fans grew to love and fuck them and turn them into watered-down versions of their former self. (MVP: Worst. Face turn. EVER.)

If they'd turn him back, I think there's plenty of feuds and skits to engage in. If he stays face (and this keeps going), he'll be wished well in his future endeavours by the end of the year, by my guess.

 

[hitmanhart]

I just want to clarify something. When I made reference to Goldust, it was not meant to be a knock on the guy. I, like most of you have shown, support Goldust and think he is being underused. What I was referring to is that although Goldust still has gas in the tank and can still deliver an excellent match, he still won't get a push with Vinnie Mac in charge. If Vince wanted to give Goldust a push, he would have done so by now. I was trying to say that Santino is still relatively young, came in to WWE, won the IC, and had the crowd loving it. Goldust on the other hand has been 'on the sidelines' so to speak for a while now and it doesn't look like he's going to get much more TV time or a title run.

Both, in my opinion, deserve title runs or at least a mid-card push, but I think we all know that in Vince's eyes, Goldust no longer has a future involving any titles. I just don't want Vince to make the same mistake with Santino.

 

[buckfast67uk]

Make Santino GM of RAW.

He is the best mike talent in the wrestling industry has possibly the greatest gimmick of the past 5 years.

This guy understands humour better than anyone else in the WWE. He should be on the camera more than anyone else and the best way to make that happen is make him GM.

This celebrity host crap is bullshit and should be stopped with immediate effect. Have a battle-royal next week on RAW with the winner becoming GM. Have Santino hide under the ring for most of the match then sneak out to beat Regal to the job.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

Make Santino GM of RAW.

He is the best mike talent in the wrestling industry has possibly the greatest gimmick of the past 5 years.

This guy understands humour better than anyone else in the WWE. He should be on the camera more than anyone else and the best way to make that happen is make him GM.

This celebrity host crap is bullshit and should be stopped with immediate effect. Have a battle-royal next week on RAW with the winner becoming GM. Have Santino hide under the ring for most of the match then sneak out to beat Regal to the job.

How can you say that the "Celebrity Host concept is bullshit" when it is clearly resulting in higher than average ratings as opposed to when WWE was using regular GM's?

Maybe your tastes are not necessarily aligned with the majority of the fanbase, who craves something new each week to keep them interested.

This was a line on another news site regarding insiders and their so-called opinions on "what's cool and what sucks" and I think holds true in this case, as well ...

To RAW’s credit, most insiders are going to dismiss non-wrestling segments (such as comedy bits and celebrity hosts) as proof that the show is “out of touch,” even if they actually produce improvements in viewership and press coverage.

 

[Klown_Karnage]

Actually, I have another idea of what to do with Santino. It's a position he'd be perfect for and not only will it give him the push he needs in a direction congruent with his character, it would also give a bit of air time to a few of WWE's long-standing but not-often-seen jobbers.

I'm talking about a re-make of The J.O.B. Squad. Same concept in terms of the sorts of wrestlers, but with a slightly different format. Santino creates a mafia-style "family" with himself as its Don. He brings in Chavo who has been feeling oppressed and ill-treated by the management and feels he lacks the respect he deserves from those around him. In addition, they get the likes of Jamie Noble and Jimmy Wang Yang (who is pulled over from Smackdown.) The four of them decide to help each other out, forming a mafia family stable (not sure what they'd call it) and begin getting wins through very tricky modes of cheating (about the only thing these guys are depicted as being good at with Wang Yang as an exception, but he could manage it by doing a heel turn.) Perhaps they go after the U.S. and Intercontinental titles and Yang and Noble form a tag-team and go after the tag-team championships. They'd get their asses kicked a lot...but also manage to completely and underhandedly ruin things for others, becoming highly annoying to everyone.

This storyline could lead to a ton of comedic spots and end fairly easily with the rest of the roster getting sick of these guys and all ganging up on them or the group simply collapsing under the weight of their collective egos. Hey, I'll bet even Vince McMahon would enjoy this because it would allow him to parody the Main Event Mafia from TNA without even mentioning them.

I know it'll probably never happen...but it sure would entertain yours truly if it did. Tee-hee!

 

[Why Always Me]

Actually, I have another idea of what to do with Santino. It's a position he'd be perfect for and not only will it give him the push he needs in a direction congruent with his character, it would also give a bit of air time to a few of WWE's long-standing but not-often-seen jobbers.

I'm talking about a re-make of The J.O.B. Squad. Same concept in terms of the sorts of wrestlers, but with a slightly different format. Santino creates a mafia-style "family" with himself as its Don. He brings in Chavo who has been feeling oppressed and ill-treated by the management and feels he lacks the respect he deserves from those around him. In addition, they get the likes of Jamie Noble and Jimmy Wang Yang (who is pulled over from Smackdown.) The four of them decide to help each other out, forming a mafia family stable (not sure what they'd call it) and begin getting wins through very tricky modes of cheating (about the only thing these guys are depicted as being good at with Wang Yang as an exception, but he could manage it by doing a heel turn.) Perhaps they go after the U.S. and Intercontinental titles and Yang and Noble form a tag-team and go after the tag-team championships. They'd get their asses kicked a lot...but also manage to completely and underhandedly ruin things for others, becoming highly annoying to everyone.

This storyline could lead to a ton of comedic spots and end fairly easily with the rest of the roster getting sick of these guys and all ganging up on them or the group simply collapsing under the weight of their collective egos. Hey, I'll bet even Vince McMahon would enjoy this because it would allow him to parody the Main Event Mafia from TNA without even mentioning them.

I know it'll probably never happen...but it sure would entertain yours truly if it did. Tee-hee!

That is an awesome idea, Santino needs more air time, he was brilliant with Freddie Prince Jr on Raw.

The origional JOB squad was a brillaint faction too, and Chavo, Noble and Yang are all very under-utilised talents, so this could actually work.

 

[Tastycles]

The thing that saved Santino is what will ultimately kill him. Santino was unpopular and would have been released until the Condemned came out. Then, he was able to become the comedy character that he is today. However, the comedy routine was starting to get stale so they introduced Santina. Then that got old and they turned him face.

He has already run out of ring momentum, so I think they should either make him an interviewer or just have him as a general lackey for the guest host. Thst would keep him in a job, and keep him at an exposure level where his comedy skits don't become a chore to watch.

 

[TM Punk]

How can you say that the "Celebrity Host concept is bullshit" when it is clearly resulting in higher than average ratings as opposed to when WWE was using regular GM's?

Maybe your tastes are not necessarily aligned with the majority of the fanbase, who craves something new each week to keep them interested.

1) You are one of two people in this thread that don't like Santino, don't think he's funny, and don't think he needs/deserves more air time. So to put that in perspective, maybe YOUR tastes are not necessarily aligned with the majority of the fanbase.

2) The celebrity host concept resulting in higher than average ratings has nothing to do with the majority of WWE's fanbase. If that were the case they would get the same ratings because it would still only be the WWE's fanbase tuning in. The celebrity host draws in non wrestling fans to see just WTF Shaq is doing on the phony wrestling show.

Goldust was upper mid card 13 years ago when he was IC champ. He's old now. There to help out little brother Cody, and put over some younger guys.

 

[sevastra82]

The whole "PG" rating has killed Goldust. I'd LOVE to see the heel Goldust return, and have him used in the way he was used in the past. Unfortunately, that'll never happen.

As for Santino, he's far out of the title picture. Beth Phoenix is now doing her own thing...Santino is now in limbo. He's become the RAW jobber unfortunately. Its really kind of sad, cause Santinos got tons of talent, and he's great on the mic...unfortunately the WWE killed him with his gimmick, and now he's left with nothing.

If they dont repackage his career somehow, I think he's going to eventually going to get the axe unfortunately.