Hi Scott,
I was at the Summerslam Heatwave Tour today at Ricoh Coliseum, Toronto when Santino retired.
-he admitted he's actually 40 years old, not the 35 he's billed as
-he was disappointed he couldn't wrestle in Toronto last tour because he was injured then too.
-he felt sad that he was never announced as from his real hometown of Mississauga/Toronto, Canada
-he hoped to stay on as a manager, general manager, or in some other role
Other notes:
-biggest pop and standing ovation: Chris Jericho answered The Miz's open challenge. After the match, Jericho took the mic and said he was feeling pretty good in his first match in over a year.
-Cena beat Bray Wyatt in a Street Fight title match after an Attitude Adjustment through a table.
best,
The Undead Tailor
The Undead Tailor
Finally.. and take Khali with you.
ReplyDeleteI can believe I just saw the full life span of one WWE performer. I Rembrandt the night when I watched him challenge Umaga for the title. Man I was such a mark then.
ReplyDeleteBut, think of the Middle Eastern demo.
ReplyDeleteEmma stole his vertebrate.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun career. I hope to be half that fit at 40. I have eight years to get there. Well done, Mr Carelli.
ReplyDeleteI think my favorite Santino memories are his Cobra/Socko standoff at the 2012 Rumble, and his heel run in 2008 specifically the Glamorella stuff and the HONKAMETER!
ReplyDeleteSantino was gold until WWE realized that he was funny and then started booking him in embarrassing segments.
ReplyDeleteWow way to be a dick.
ReplyDeleteWell, you're right about Khali.
Huh, makes you wonder if anyone else on the roster is lying about their age.
ReplyDeleteHow old are you?
ReplyDelete30!
How old are you?
30!!
How old are you?
40! That's right; I'm 40!
Vintage WWE!
ReplyDeleteHire a Middle Eastern wrestler who's not terrible. Or at the very least pair Khali up with another guy as a tag team.
ReplyDeleteHah, I remember that. He got cut immediately... then returned as The Boogeyman all of a sudden, because he was ripped.
ReplyDeleteIf my suspicions are true and Vince McMahon is indeed Cthulhu, than he is centuries old.
ReplyDeleteHe put a lot of effort into the role. Too bad he couldn't back it up in the ring.
ReplyDeleteMy only memory of Santino is the past year and a bit, which means all I saw was him actively hurting the careers of others just by being involved with them (Emma, Fandango). Comedy Jobbers are one thing, but tying someone to them just makes THEM look bad as well.
ReplyDeleteAt least Emma gets another chance. Fandango is where he's supposed to be; a mid card act. Sorry I'll never buy the dance craze post Mania 29 as anything other than a short fad.
ReplyDeleteWWE must have been so mad at the post-Mania smarks for making it seem like Fandango was going to be a huge star.
ReplyDeleteFuck Santino, bring back Boris Alexiev.
ReplyDeleteSomeone pointed out that Santino claimed to be younger to keep up kayfabe from his 2007 debut.
ReplyDeleteThe greatest Intercontinental Champion of all of the times. Greater than the Honky Donkey Man.
ReplyDeleteThe Yes thing lasted because Bryan had a character that could evolve past it. Fandango is a one dimensional character but a pretty decent wrestler for the most part. He was never going to go anywhere.
ReplyDeleteYeah I liked Santino until he became designated as a comedy wrestler, favourite moments are him defeating Swagger and Ziggler in the triple threat US title match after WM 28, nearly upsetting Del Rio in the 2011 Rumble, and him nearly upsetting Bryan in the Elimination Chamber, all got massive reactions and are moments he can take with him forever.
ReplyDeleteJinder Mahal? Shit-canned for not being a freak of nature.
ReplyDeleteAnd just not being very good.
ReplyDeleteSomeone tell Santino to put his keys on the davenport on the way out... seriously, he had a full career and had a handful of memorable moments. Kudos for stepping away instead of crippling himself.
ReplyDeleteHe sure came a long way from the guy Jim Cornette slapped in OVW.
ReplyDeleteBetter than Khali. I'll take vanilla guys like Mahal any day over Khali stinking up the ring and squashing people in 2014.
ReplyDeleteConsidering what Cornette became, and what the developmental system now is, I'd say Santino no selling Boogeyman did us all a favor.
ReplyDeleteGood point. Still rather have Jinder gone is it makes room for new guys though.
ReplyDeletePlus it gave us Cornette's telling of the story at that Q&A.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for new blood, but Khali seriously looks like he's getting out of his death bed every time he waddles/stumbles to the ring. Mahal was a decent Middle Eastern wrestler for your token "whatever the fuck racist angle WWE wanted to do" role. If I had the option, I take the one who will live through the next week.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure now Emma will steal the show when she gets another shot at it.
ReplyDeleteBUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURN
ReplyDeleteAs cringe-worthy as some of the Santino comedy bits were, there really wasn't a better comedy wrestler on the roster. I can't imagine anyone filling that spot, though Adam Rose is welcome to try.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what Santino will do for health insurance if he isn't actively employed. Maybe he can get on COBRA.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Santino was REALLY good about parlaying his comedy wrestler bit into some memorable hope spots. Say whatever you want, but you know you were rooting for the guy at the 2011 Royal Rumble and 2012 Elimination Chamber matches and he almost had you believing he'd win the big one.
ReplyDeleteMost underrated Santino moment: The Tea Party
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/u_UDgp4Xtxw
This was probably the highlight of his comedy run and even let Vladimir Kozlov show off some rare comedy chops and had me convinced that they could be a fun tag team for a long time to come. (So naturally, this company turfed Kozlov a few weeks later, because of course they did.)
Maybe that's why they're grooming Sandow the way that they are.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I see Sheamus, I still hear Santino's voice saying "Please welcome my guest, Shea-MOOSE."
ReplyDeleteDo yourselves a favor and go watch the end of the 2011 Rumble, but don't watch Santino. Watch the fans in the crowd. There are about three of the smarkiest bunch of smark-looking smarks on the right side of the screen with their hands on their heads and their jaws on the ground, looking like they're about to shoot themselves at the idea of Santino winning. It's glorious.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Cole totally ruins that moment.
In retrospect, how dumb was it that they didn't just let him win it? It's not like that win did anything for Del Rio in the long run anyway.
ReplyDeleteAnd Cole has a knack for ruining every moment.
There's nothing wrong with tying lost causes to Santino. Look at Kozlov. But yeah, the problem was, they were tying the wrong people to Santino.
ReplyDeleteIt was the biggest screwup in Double Double E history.
ReplyDeleteWe've seen the full life span of several WWE performers (Edge, most prominent among them).
ReplyDeleteFun fact: Most of the main eventers that were at the top of the card during the time that Santino debuted are STILL around and in the exact same top spot.
"It's not even a real cobra! It's my arm in a cobra costume, stupid!"
ReplyDeleteCornette was doing great in OVW. That may be hard to believe, but OVW kicked lots of ass when he was running it. It was must-see TV in my local area when it aired at like 10 pm on Saturday nights.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it would've been something organic to take off, but WWE had to go nuts after one night and think it was going to catch on everywhere.
ReplyDeleteI liked the Boogeyman character.
ReplyDeleteScrew Kevin Dunn......
ReplyDeleteThat's not really what I would call a "fun" fact.....
ReplyDeleteBring back Muhammad Hassan. Seriously......
ReplyDeleteFandango and babyface Orton had a ***+ TV match on Raw last summer. He can go.
ReplyDeleteI should have guessed such a huge Italian stereotype would be from Mississauga.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, and if there was ever a time to do it with the secondary Smackdown title nobody cared about anyway. That was a boring rumble and you knew ADR would win anyway, but I'll admit I marked out hoping Santino would win. Every year I hope WWE goes with an off-the-wall Rumble winner, that should be the point of having the match.
ReplyDeleteSure, "grooming", well go with that.
ReplyDeleteMore like a sad fact.
ReplyDeleteWell, I started watching fully again in 06, so I'd say that he was my first wrestler where I saw his whole WWE career from start to finish.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I only saw brief snippets, but I really appreciated the effort and style of the guy. And it's not like he got a huge push or crushed others beneath him or anything.
ReplyDeleteFandango seems like a solid midcard act. The issue was, sticking him with a Comedy Jobber for so long just made HIM look like a Jobber- ie. someone who couldn't possibly beat anyone else. And I think most midcarders at least deserve a half-decent push before going the "3MB" route of jobbing to absolutely everyone.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Emma was basically dead in the water as a concept almost solely because she only dealt with the Santino/Fandango feud.
ReplyDeleteIt's the perfect example of the WWE finding a memorable moment and ruining it.
ReplyDelete