Former WWE star Santino Marella joined the Jordan Garber NOW podcast with Jordan Garber to talk about his career in wrestling and the evolution of his persona for WWE. Below are some interview highlights:
On the Jim Cornette incident:
Jim Cornette was upset because of The Boogeyman malfunction. Cornette was really pissed some people were laughing and this was like his big debut basically I have a smirk on my face because I thought The Boogeyman was going to scare my daughter so Cornette thought I was being disrespectful so he called me to the back and slapped me in the face.
On his WWE debut:
I got signed in August in 06. I went home for a few months to get my work visa. I was on my way to Elizabethtown, KY for a live OVW event I get a call from the office they were saying ” your Italian right” ? I said yeah my dad’s from Italy and they are like “can you speak Italian?” I said yeah so they bought it flew me down and I made my debut two days later.
On how he got his comedy gimmick:
They lost faith in the gimmick so they turned me heel. When I did the heel voice with the accent I guess so much more personality came out of it and Vince loved it.
Working with Vince McMahon:
I love Vince. Vince is the man, he doesn’t even know how much of a mentor he is to me. When I watch him work and the hustles he has it’s unparalleled it’s amazing. He’s just the man.
On his WWE release:
I wasn’t negatively affected at all. it was like thank you very much that’s the end of one chapter it was awesome, it was amazing. I wasn’t released the contract just ran out and they just opted not to renew it.
Jordan Garber NOW airs Tuesday nights at 11:30 PM ET on the VOC Nation Radio Network (vocnation.com).
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
