Santino Marella may be approaching the end of his in-ring wrestling career, if his recent interview with Newday.com is any indication. The former Intercontinental Champion considers himself "one of the older guys in the locker room", and stated that is in-ring career is "definitely winding down."
That being said, Santino stated that he's very interesting in a few non-wrestling roles within WWE that would keep him on television, entertaining the fans without having to get into the ring 250+ days out of the year. These possible roles include a spot as Raw or Smackdown general manager, or the host of a new talk show on the WWE Network, which the company has been talking about creating.
It's worth mentioning that Santino does not consider his job to be in any danger after a recent string of firings and WWE budget cuts – "The guys who were released maybe were not as flexible. They couldn't fit into everywhere. I'm versatile. I can do anything. I can sing, dance, I can do it all. I can stay here for another 20 years."
The 35-year-old Canadian Superstar made his debut with the WWE in 2007, winning the Intercontinental Championship in his first night on television. He is a former tag team champion and United States champion, and owns a professional wrestling and martial arts training gym called Battle Arts Academy in his hometown of Mississauga, Ontario.
KILLAM: Santino is at a point where he likely realizes WWE won't be giving him another title shot, or putting him in those major Elimination Chamber or Royal Rumble spots going forward, and is preparing for the next stage of his career. Last I heard his gym is doing very well and is highly praised by dozens of wrestlers and MMA stars alike, but like he said he could also keep going with WWE for a long time. He's a naturally entertaining guy, but his on-screen future depends on how much value WWE sees in him as a character going forward.
