What the WWE should do with Santino

[Hyorinmaru]

[youtube]wZMrOV22rRc[/youtube]
I'm confused why WWE Didn't do something like this with Santino Instead of making him a laughing stock. The man can wrestle and seeing him become a joke just bugs the crap out of me.

Here's what I think should happen. Santino loses a match and has to leave the WWE. For the next few weeks after that Koslov talks about his 'friend' from Russia he wants to bring in and During one of Koslov's matches he comes out and they destroy whatever Jobber Koslov is facing and boom not only is Sanino actually wrestling they have another Tag Team that can fight for the Unified WWE Tag belts.

 

[Big Sexy]

I really don't think Santino can ever change into a credible wrestler. Too much damage has been done. And there is no way you could have him disappear as an Italian jobber and then return as a Russian bad ass. Even if that was his gimmick from the beginning I don't think it would have worked because he just doesn't look very intimidating. He's not that big and I just couldn't see him being taken seriously with that type of gimmick. It's easy to do stuff like that in a place like OVW because there are a lot of smaller guys and a lot of guys who will never even make it to the WWE. Once you get to the big leagues it's a completely different story. Santino will never be any more then a comedic jobber in the WWE.

 

[slayerofpanda]

I personally don't feel that Santino needs to change, everybody fits a part and he is the comedy goldmine of the show...no shame in that at all.

 

[GameOver]

He doesn't need to change

He's what wrestling is missing atm, comedy.
I was never into him til he started cutting comedy promo's, now he cracks me up which is something that rarely happens these days

H'es funny plain and simple and has a rediculous look to boot.

Will he ever reach any notoriety in ring? possibly, though i never though much of the ability that was showcased when he beat Umaga. Thats just my opinion.

 

[Pimpin]

Too much damage has been done to him for anybody to really take him seriousely. Instead of changing his entire gimmich, they should just let him showcase the talent that he has in the ring. Bottom line is that Santino is gonna stay a mid-carder for life anyways so they should just let him posses his talent & just let him do his thing.

 

[DDPK7]

wwe needs to stop the SANTINA marella storyline now as it just isnt funny, santino was funny when he was wrestling and doing promos but now he just accompanies beth down to the ring, they should have santino be 'injured' and then bring him back as better than ever and can win matches, but he still has the comedic side so he can be taken seriously but we still have something funny in the show (hes the only one whos funny as john cena isnt funny unless your a kid or a woman)

 

[Killer Tofu]

I hope that he can transition to being taken more seriously in the ring one day.

I still think that it would be an unforgettable day if he won a World-title with his current gimmick.

 

[chrisgod]

I don't think santino is capable of being a credible, serious wrestler. Not because of his current status of Raw's resident jobber to the jobbers (he's lost to Haas, Jim Duggan, etc!!!), but because he just doesn't have te size / looks / moveset to do it.

Let's face it, I've seen that video zillions of times and he looks like he could kick anyone's ass in just a couple of minutes, but that is the main reason of a video package: MAKE SOMEONE LOOK INCREDIBLY GOOD.

If you check Koslov's vignettes, he is amazing, he seems to be an old-fashion brawler, he looks like a fucking suplex machine, you just buy it. Then you watch one of his matches and he is just plain boring.

The same is with Santino Marella, everybody seems to have forgotten that he some time ago, he was a face, and he had at least 4 tv matches with Umaga and all of them where boring, he was playing the "underdog" I know and he was suposed to have a little offense during the match. but I can't recall him doing something that was at least entertaining, just basic jobber offense. There is no evidence besides that vignettes (good ones, but seem to have only one or two of his "great" matches) that make me think he could be something big (by big I mean midcarder title contender, because I don't see how he can be something bigger).

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

Santino clearly is a better wrestler than they let him seem, but really, is he THAT much better that its a gross malfunction to ignore it? Think about it. WWE can go out and find skilled MMA/wrestling guys rather easily. They've got Charlie Haas who does absolutely nothing. Now, while I'm certainly not trying to say that they're useless, because they're a welcome addition and I love seeing a good match with people that really know what they're doing, if someone has a particular quality about them that makes them more marketable, why not focus on it? Santino has a natural ability to do this character and he's over with the crowd. They boo him when they're supposed to, they laugh at him when they're supposed to, and they haven't really gotten tired of it yet. Hell, at the battle royal, he was the only one anybody gave a shit about. 24 other women and the crowd's chanting for Santino instead. Part of that, of course, is because the women's division is so wretchedly boring, lol, but part of it is obviously that Santino is still an entertaining character.

So really, why would you want to eliminate that aspect of your company when you have nobody that can do it better than him to fill that spot? You'd be adding another "credible wrestler" to the roster, but he would become boring as nothing would make him stand out from all of the other "credible wrestlers". Santino's got his own little niche that nobody comes close to intruding on, and it serves its purpose. Changing him and trying to make him into just another one of the guys ruins that and leaves a gap in the roster.

 

[thesacredcow]

The way I see it Santino is the new Crash Holly in many respects, and I don't think the WWE needs to change that. The man is comedy gold, something seriously lacking in the WWE right now. Why would you want to change his gimmick? Ok maybe give him a few more wins here and there, but the fun of watching him is waiting to see him make a complete knob-end out of himself. His segment with Khali was more entertaining to me than Cena on the Cutting Edge was. If anything the WWE needs to add more comedy to its shows to break up the monotony of watching John Cena deliver another self congratulatory promo. Give me Santino trying to do Melina's ring entrance over that any day.

 

[Jerichomark85]

I don't think much needs to change. I think he should be the ICpicture with someone like Morrison to start rebuilding crediblity. I honestly think to much emphasis is put on being a main-eventer. The main event of a weekely show is rarely more than 20 minutes and can only have a set amount of guys for storyline purposes. Leave him as he is and let him be a the cross-dressing drag queen heel that wins gold and drives other contenders nuts. Or even make him and beth take a run at the tag titles. Something different and entertaining at least.

 

[ratedRKO17]

i really think tht santino should be world champ
and keep his funnyness..
imean we need 2 have a funny champ rite??
i think he should be a champ tho

 

[rowdy ruben]

he need to get injured take some time off nd come back as a comidic face nd show more wrestling technique. he can wrestle its jst no one take him serious. he needs to just repackage but not as a russian badd azz just santino nd beat guys like jimmy yang, charlie hass, nd jesse

 

[speedy316]

Santino well never be taken seriously while he chasing the womens title! Let him go after a real belt his second IC title run i thought was going somewhere and then they job him out to William Regal just because they are in England!

 

[ztwhite]

Tons of wrestlers have either started, or at one time or another, been comedic jobbers.

Look at Mick Foley, Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels. Now before anyone gets carried away, I'm not saying that Santino Marella will become HBK, Angle or Foley, but it's a plausible argument.

Foley was a comedian while he was doing the Rock & Sock connection. Angle actually wore a kids cowboy hat around for a while and played the banjo. HBK was and sometimes still is a comedian with DX.

For a more recent example, look at MVP. While he wasn't necessarlily doing comedy, he became a comedic jobber when he went on a six month losing streak. Hell, Shelton Benjamin was a comedian when he went along with the Shelton's Momma angle.

Wrestling fans have short-term memories, or at least the writers think so, so Santino could easily become a serious wrestler once again.

But I don't think he'll ever contend for a heavyweight title. The IC, US or Tag Titles are as high as he'll ever reach.

 

[Moriya]

he will get better as they put him in a losing streak match, then boob like MVP winning anything by trainning and learning new moves

 

[Scott Free]

Santino could be anything creative wants him to be, the so-called comedy act he's doing these days, which I find rather tacky and tasteless BTW, is but an example of how characters change at a whim, suddenly, out of the blue, he's a drag queen, just because someone in creative thinks it's funny, I suppose the same guy that thought "Big Dick Johnson" was "hilarious". If they decide to turn him into a Russian cruiser weight mauler, people would buy it, slap a mask on him, cover his tattoo, and you got it. They can sell you anything they want, remember, you're a mark. Would you buy it ? Depends, did you buy Santina ?
Then you probably will.

 

[NaturallyPricele$$]

[youtube]wZMrOV22rRc[/youtube]
I'm confused why WWE Didn't do something like this with Santino Instead of making him a laughing stock. The man can wrestle and seeing him become a joke just bugs the crap out of me.

Here's what I think should happen. Santino loses a match and has to leave the WWE. For the next few weeks after that Koslov talks about his 'friend' from Russia he wants to bring in and During one of Koslov's matches he comes out and they destroy whatever Jobber Koslov is facing and boom not only is Sanino actually wrestling they have another Tag Team that can fight for the Unified WWE Tag belts.

Great idea, but I think when Santino tried the Melina split entrance that pretty much killed any chance that anyone would ever look at him as a Bad Ass.

 

[Muffin Top Merkley]

SantinO is funny. To me Santino is kinda like the valet to Beth Phenoix. And I like that, its a nice role reversal for the WWE.

Its unfortunate that a talented guy like Santino is stuck in drag, but he does provide the only WWE comedy. And that is good.

 

[blair4107]

I don't really think they need to alter anything for Santino right now. I mean damn, even when he isn't wrestling he has a gimmick that allows him to get on tv without any real purpose and he's STILL entertaining. Also btw that Boris Alexiv gimmick he had in OVW was pretty awful (I was glad when he left OVW but then they brought in Koslov anyway soooo....yeah). It was almost exactly the same as that guy Sylvester Terkay from last year or the year before. I wasn't even really a fan of Santino until way after his face run, I think it was about the time he started saying "Bob-tista."

Just a side note, having watched that Boris footage can anyone justify how Jim Cornette slapped him in the face, literally, when he didn't act scared enough of the Boogeyman? I mean c'mon, that would completely depreciate what credibility he had at that time (he really wasn't in OVW that long; not that I remember).