Santino Marella

[4.0] "Worst finisher in WWE history, cringey comedy pushed by Vince, and that awful Santina angle. Cheap laughs, zero credibility, always felt like a joke act. Has a few redeeming qualities and an okay build, so I can't give him a 0."

[3.0] "I am incredibly difficult to please when it comes to comedy gimmicks. So much so that, frankly, I'd rather just not have them at all. If you can't integrate them into the personalities of actual and credible wrestlers (Kurt Angle, AJ in TNA, MJF) then I'd rather you not even give it the attempt. Don't know why we'd be so forgiving of such genuinely awful panto just because "it's wrestling, bro." He does get a point for being the centrepiece of one of the funnier Corny rants. so there's that, at least."

[9.0] "An actual comedic genius in a wrestling context. THe creativity of this guy was and is still so good. You want him to fill a role, he always does whatever it is with 100 percent gusto. And if you are one of those who looks down on comedy, go back to those spots when he was the last one eliminated in the rumble and the chamber. The crowd was totally with him because he was always character first and never once cared if he looked stupid as long as the segment got over. Should find his way back to WWE as a legend at some point."

[9.0] "Son of a gun this man deserves a better score. People shouldn't be only rating on wrestling ability. The amount of hilarious moments Santino has provided are too many to count. His fake accent is still funny 20 years later. Any part that Santino plays he always is a great addition. If there was a Mount Rushmore of comedic wrestlers he would be 1 of the 4. He also has a really memorable debut. They pulled of the "reality" of it really well. Also his Destiny promotion was a great showcase of many of the stars that we think as "main eventers". You can tell he cares about the profession."

[7.0] "Santino honestly had all the tools to be a legitimate World Champion - excellent mic work and really good in the ring. They chose the Santina schtick over a legitimate push, although he did manage the IC title twice. Ultimately he was super over and mostly entertaining, so he should be given a good rating. He was victim of the PG era and Vince's weird fetishes, but when he did get to wrestle or cut a promo, he proved he could. In hindsight, they should have let him win the Royal Rumble over Del Rio"

[7.0] "Santino is my personal favourite comedy character in WWE. His cobra gimmick always gets a reaction out of me. His real life martial arts experience made his matches step up a quality too. He was always somebody that the crowd would root for, even if you knew he wouldn't end up winning the big one. Santino Marella is easily a hall of famer waiting to happen."

[7.0] "While Santino is not well-known for his in-ring work, his character and comedy always makes any segment work! I prefer his heel run from 2007 to 2009 as his best moments as there is some genuinely funny stuff he's done such as his Intercontinental Championship reign and mini feud with Cone Stold Steve Austin. Overtime though, his babyface run was starting to get stale and some segments in his later career are not that funny. Regardless, Santino is an excellent comedy worker!"

[4.0] "I'll start off by saying some positives. When Santino first started in WWE as a heel, especially as Intercontinental Champion, he was a really funny guy. His feud with Steve Austin was pretty funny, Honk-A-Meter was great and he was always getting people to corpse on TV. The reason I leave him at a 4 is because his babyface run is what, sadly, overshadows his career and what lasted longer. Once he became a babyface, he was unbearable, always being corny and unfunny, The Cobra is one of the stupidest finishers I've ever seen, Santina Marella was awful, I could go on. It's a shame he remained a babyface for most of his career, because he's shown that he can be entertaining, but WWE had a knack for making terrible comedy during the PG Era."

[3.0] "As someone who grew up watching him and would've been the perfect age to find him entertaining, I unfortunately just found him to be one of the most embarrassing parts about liking wrestling as a kid between his awful character and mostly unfunny segments. I felt like his work with the "Divas" was also disrespectful (him winning that Mania battle royal is one of the worst things to ever happen at a Mania), and he's an instant skip anytime I'm watching WWE from this era, which sucks as he was often alongside talented people."

[4.0] "His biggest quality was his sense of humour and the fact he was able to entertain people of all ages. For me, he was the epitome wrestler for the PG era. An era in which, I hated and couldn't stand watching the product anymore. I did like his early stuff, as the "fan" that decided to take on Umaga and ultimately win, to being some braggadocious heel who would go on and on about his record as Intercontinental Champion. But man, the minute WWE switched to PG, he became nothing more than a pure comedy wrestler. His ability in-ring is ok, we all know his charisma is what makes him stand out above the rest. He was funny, at times. Good to use for certain spots, i.e the Elimination Chamber where he "almost" won it, and again at the Royal Rumble where he "almost" won it. He was perfect for those spots, because even if you knew he wasn't going to win, it still caught you by surprise and made you think, what if? Aside from all of that though, I didn't really like the whole cobra gimmick thing. Just got really silly throughout the height of the PG era, I would literally avoid watching him because it was just too over the top goofiness. At the end of the day, he was just doing what was asked of him, so can't exactly "hate" him for it, but he was definitely a turn the TV off kind of guy for me personally."

[6.0] "One of the best comedic wrestlers in history. Knew his role on the card and played it well enough to be remembered, despite never getting a real Main Event push. The perfect mid card talent for a promotion to have"

[4.0] "He can be entertaining, but I have never been a fan of his small pushes. I do not think he ever should have won the IC title, he damaged the title IMO. The fact that he won the Women's battle royal, although a product of the time and not his fault, was also terrible and should have never happened."

[7.0] "Santino was a great comedic wrestler. He was funny, I love his thick Italian accent, he was involved in some good storylines from the moment of his debut. Even though he was a comedic wrestler, his in ring work is nothing to scoff. The guy can more than hold himself inside the ring."

[3.0] "It worked fine as a comedy undercard guy in small doses. I have never had a problem with goofball comedy spots in lowercard spots but unless you are as good as Kikutaro then the act usually gets old pretty quickly. I would rate him higher but his work in Impact have shown just how limited he is as a character in pro wrestling."

[3.0] "Extremely annoying, silly, and goofy character. Only highlight of his career was his debut, where he came straight from the crowd on an open challenge and won the intercontinental championship. He always was a silly gimmick not to take seriously that mid 00s WWE would cram down your throat and make you want to change the channel. Santino had little value to him when he was relevant back then and still even nowadays on Impact he kind of is hard to take completely seriously"

[3.0] "The dead zone that is comedy in professional wrestling. There is a place and time for humor in life, but if professional wrestling is to be taken seriously (and it should) you need to draw the line somewhere between idiotic and fun. The fact that Santino Marella held the IC title for so long just shows how lost the WWE was in that time frame, the PG-Era wasn't bad because of the censorship, it was largely hated because... Well it was just too commercial and devoid of substance. True there were some shining lights of hope at that time, but the low points are pretty bleak. Marella, the divas title and Hornswoggle really represented this decline in quality. Safe to say, The Reality and New era really corrected some of these issues fairly well. Marella himself was a bland yet acceptable worker, but the comedy stuff was borderline insufferable. In retrospect, he made the Honky Tonk man look like Randy Savage with the IC title. Eventually he'd fizzle out to Impact which is not surprising in the slightest. For fans of light goofiness, Marella might be a favorite. Yet when evaluated as a serious competitor and overall influence on the industry, less said the better. 3.8/10. Doesn't work for me brother."

[6.0] "I haven't cared for his work in IMPACT so far but I enjoyed his run as a comedy in WWE for the most part. He definitely deserves some credit for being the only guy to get an entertaining segment out of Kozlov."

[5.0] "Total goofball comedy wrestler not to be taken seriously, but damn did he get over with the crowds! One of the few guys of the recent era to channel some of that crazy persona you would expect in the 1980's WWF."

[10.0] "Not only was he a great comedic wrestler, but a very solid actual wrestler. Real life great martial artist too, he could've gone serious, but his comedy made some matches so much better"

[3.0] "Pretty much succeeded because the audience wanted to latch on to a comedy wrestler. I have never seen a whole load of talent behind the gimmick though."

[3.0] "He is to overrated to hold Ic title. He had a stupid comedy gimmick, but he is more funny than Hornswoggle ."

[7.0] "Why is it that I can be giving and actually watch this guy's stuff but fast forward through the Bushwhackers? Who knows, personal taste is an odd one right? I first caught him as badass shoot wrestler gimmick Boris Alexiev, he was rad in the role! Then he became the biggest joke in WWE history and I somehow... loved it. I was in and out of wrestling at the time, mostly out - but when he was on, I paid attention and almost always got a chuckle from it all. I have nothing to say about his matches, those never registered negatively or positively - and I suppose that answers my own question at the beginning of this write up! Everyone has their role, some are just there to be a "laugh with me" moment, I'm fine with that when done well. He did well."

[9.0] "I am taking off one point for Santina, but he is one of the best comedy wrestlers of all time, and is seriously under appreciated."

[1.0] "First of all, instead of being bitter, this guy should feel lucky that he got paintbrushed by Cornette since that managed to land him a job in the wwe. Just like Carlito, Santino was given a huge chance and expectations were high for him since he won the IC championship on his debut match. However, unlike Carlito they turned this dude who was hugely pushed on his first ever match, into one of the biggest jokes in wwe history. Yes, Carlito had a comedic character too (btw these two have a lot of similarities; heavy accents, winning titles in their debut matches and the comedy elements) but at least he wasn't a complete joke who lost a match to Cousin Sal (that angle was the worst). I mean, this guy did the most degrading things and it was sometimes emberassing to watch him do that stuff. Santino could play his role well (which seemed to do more bad than good to him) and while he managed to make people laugh, he never impressed me with his comedy or wrestling. While he didn't have to show his skills as much (since his main thing was comedy and he lost %80 of his matches) even when he did, i was not impressed. His comedy had many unoriginal stereotypical humor and i just wasn't a big fan of that. Another fail of the wwe."

[2.0] "Occasionally funny but the mixture of the Santina Marella gimmick, the bottom tier Rumble spot with Foley and the stupid Cobra finisher makes him a lacklustre comedy guy and not worth the nostalgia directed at him."

[6.0] "Objectively, Santino isn't bottom of the barrel when it comes to talent: he's actually not half bad at wrestling and his comedic chops aren't terrible, in fact half of his stuff isn't even half bad looking back at it. Is he going to astound you with Misawa level epics of workrate? No, he's a funny comedic worker that'll give some versatility in a set of matches where quality can go wildly up or down, but he'll always be consistent. Don't forget he was actually mega over multiple times in matches, like his close Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber bouts. When he wants to get sympathy and be a good underdog he can, but his heel antics are more enjoyable in general. His post WWE work is pretty interesting as well."

[8.0] "One of the most underrated wrestlers I've ever seen. Before Orange Cassidy, R-Truth and various other comedy wrestlers on TV today, we had Santino Marella lighting it up every week on WWE broadcasting. He made every single angle thrown his way memorable and entertaining like no one else could. Honk-a-Meter? Very fun. Glamarella? One of the best pairings I've seen. Santina Marella? At the time it gave a stagnant division some much needed purpose. Him and Koslov? Hilarious tag team, don't act like you didn't love the tea party with Sheamus. And the few moments where he came so close to unbelievable victory (Royal Rumble 2011, Elimination Chamber 2012), everyone gave him the attention and cheers that he has always deserved."

[9.0] "He was pretty damn good in the ring , and he went with what he was given and turned it into gold. I personally love how protected The Cobra was , it made it that much better."

[6.0] "He was great at entertaining the fans. His wrestling skills were decent but not great. He cried like a baby that was so funny about him."

[6.0] "Considering the comedy wrestling at his time, he was doing his best to make it watchable. Considering the repetitive and limited wrestling at his time, he was doing his best to make it watchable. He put a lot of efforts in his work to provide a great output, no matter how bad the creative team's input was. His time as a heel was actually even pretty good before he became too much of a joke."

[5.0] "He's ok in the ring. Doesn't really have any charisma, but can connect with the audience. His mic skills are meh. His comedy can sometimes be pretty entertaining."

[4.0] "I am firmly convinced WWE "Creative" conceived the Santino Marella gimmick while binge-watching Adam Sadler flicks. Insert brain damage joke here. That such a moronic gimmick went over is proof you will never go broke by catering to the lowest common denominator which, believe me, is really low in this case. Anthony Carelli himself is actually a perfectly serviceable wrestler and good trainer who really seems to care about his trainees but that's not enough to rescue him from being put in the lower half of my ratings."

[5.0] "Seems like a very polarizing figure. Some people enjoy his comedy while others absolutely hate him. Personally, I think he's alright in moderation but got kind of overexposed in WWE."

[6.0] "Flopped pretty had from the outset when he was being pushed as a face, but then he found a subtle excellence with his heel based comedy & Santino quickly became a must-see act. But then in typical WWE fashion, they took the subtle brilliance away & we were left with watered down, in-your-face, moronic comedy that Vince is such a fan of. By the time the Cobra started, I was just ready to see Santino go away for good."

"Did "comedy" matches in WWE and somehow got over with WWE crowds. His finishing move was egregiously fake to the point that it made his opponents look bad for selling it. Never had a good match that I'm aware of. On the mic, he was obnoxious and was always saying things that were supposed to be funny but weren't. Wrestlers like him that don't even try to have believable matches shouldn't be in wrestling."

[8.0] "One of the best comedians a very underrated athlete With BJJ and Judo and his Santino Bros Academy Great Face and great heel two great ic reigns"

[10.0] "The greatest North American comedy wrestler of all-time. No one can match this guy as far as being able to make you laugh your balls off then also deeply care about his character. Santino nearly winning the Rumble and the Elimination Chamber are 2 of my favorite moments of the past 10 years in WWE. A guaranteed Hall Of Famer one day."

[0.0] "The only reason Anthony Carelli stayed employed for as long as he did was because he hadn't the slightest shred of self-respect. It didn't matter how embarrassing or humiliating the idea was; Anthony Carelli was more than willing to throw away whatever dignity he had and go along with it. And I can't give a person like that, who clearly has no respect for himself, any grade other than 0."

[3.0] "While he did ok work as a comedy character, he was over pushed during his WWE tenure. The gimmick quickly played itself out and became stale."

[1.0] "I'll never undestand how Santino Marella has been able to be so successful. He was terrible in the ring and unfunny, unless you like Adam Sanderl-like comedy. At times, he was cringeworthy, at times even offensive. And still, he won five titles in WWE and nearly became a world champion!"

[2.0] "One of my least favorite characters in WWE/F history. I would often change the channel when he came on. Don't remember him being any good in the ring, but to his credit, I am not sure if he was ever given a real chance to show anything."

[2.0] "He was a comedy wrestler. WWE's comedy tends to suck. Need I continue? Okay lets continue. He seemed to like what he was doing, that's a plus. He made the character just slightly tolerable because of his dedication. Can't honestly think of anything else. Oh yeah, he almost became the World Heavyweight Champion in an Elimination Chamber. A joke character. Thank god he didn't but in the process his being in the final two absolutely made Barrett and Rhodes look like jokes and they never recovered (Cody's at least doing alright in the Independent scene and NJPW). As a joke character, that should never happen, but I suppose more irrational things have happened."

[6.0] "WWE's attempts are comedy are often a misfire. Hammy cliches, racial and sexual overtones potty humor, Vince McMahon's humor is... outdated to say the least. For the most part, Santino Marella is a comedy act done right. Santino, originally in FCW has a tough guy Russian gimmick which displayed his impressive ring work. However, when he debuted on the main roster, winning the IC title by upsetting Umaga with help from Lashley, Santino cemented himself as underdog performer. However, he never gained his traction until he became a successful comedy heel. Comedic timing, great selling, and a partnership with Beth Phoenix helped establish him as one of the best midcard comedy act. While his last few years, he became a cartoonish parody, he was always over with fans and his 2012 Elimination Chamber performance cultivated a major crowd reaction."

[0.0] "Santino is the most annoying and unfunny superstar in WWE history. His debut was his highest point of his carrier but after that he got really mediocre very fast. He was not a good wrestler at all and his finishing move was very weak. Overall Santino never deserved to win any of the titles he got. 0/10."

[6.0] "Santino has never been a hell of a wrestler but honestly, i thought he was ok: nothing really good but nothing really bad either and he was pretty entertaining ( in fact, i think he would had been huge in DDT). He was a decent wrestler and although i can perfectly understand why some hates him as a wrestler, i think he gets to much of it."

[0.0] "A shame that this guy won titles. Awful gimmick, awful in-ring. In 8 years in WWE I don't remember having seen any single good match from him. He was ridiculous all the time and the worst thing is that he seemed to like it (santina, vickie feud and I know there is a lot more but I did not follow them but I saw some of them) Something I also dislike is the fact he has been pushed (he won a title at his 1st WWE tv appearance, I mean couldn't they choose someone else. Some more talented guys wait eternally for a push and seeing him win title is ugly. Him and mainly bookers showed a lot of disrespect to the guy who work hard to reach a good place in the company."

[8.0] "Not the best wrestler, probably better than his gimmicks ever allowed him to be. His Italian was awful too. But he did have some very funny moments and some quite good matches. Always thought he was good as a comedy wrestler and he did probably deserve a serious run because given the chance, I think he would have done well. I'm a fan of his though and he always made me laugh. Deserved more."

[8.0] "I feel that Santino gets a lot of undeserved hate because of his gimmick - which, I admit, is not great - but the man is great at playing his character (with one exception: his Italian is awful and his accent makes it difficult to understand what he's saying whenever he's speaking Italian, so for Italian fans such as myself he's a bit of a letdown in that aspect), he's great in the ring and he can on occasion be pretty funny. He's not one of the best wrestlers in the world but he certainly deserves a rating higher than 6. 14."

[8.0] "Santino Marella is a wrestler with a lot of hidden skill. He is a very good worker in the ring and was known for applying MMA moves in his matches. But his in-ring skills are usually outshined by his Italian comedy gimmick. It's what makes him money, so I'm not against him doing it. But we should see more of him being like a smaller version of Tazz."

[3.0] "While Santino Marella was never a bad wrestler, he should have never had the push that he had in WWE. The only thing special about was that he was willing to make an embarrassment of himself. His reign as the US champion almost destroyed the credibility of the title."