[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Santino-Marella_4704.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:340:COBRA!!!]]

Anthony Carelli (born March 14, 1979) is a retired Italian-Canadian [[MediaNotes/ProfessionalWrestling professional wrestler]], [[UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts mixed martial artist]] and [[UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} judoka]], better known by his ring name Santino Marella. He is currently signed to Wrestling/ImpactWrestling as its Director of Authority and also best known for his time in the Wrestling/{{WWE}}, where he is a two-time [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/ic.html WWE Intercontinental Champion]], former [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-t.html WWE Tag Team Champion]] with Wrestling/VladimirKozlov, and former [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwf-us-h.html WWE United States Champion]].

Santino announced his retirement at a live WWE event in Toronto, Ontario, on July 6, 2014. This came on the heels of a third neck injury.
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!! Tropes associated with Santino:
* AccidentalMisnaming[=/=]MaliciousMisnaming: Santino, he does both all the time, which had led to such names as [[Wrestling/JohnCena John Chenna]], [[Wrestling/{{Sheamus}} Sheamoose]], [[Wrestling/ChrisJericho KYJ]], [[Wrestling/{{Batista}} Baptista]], [[Wrestling/ReyMysterioJr Ray Mastrio]], [[Wrestling/RoddyPiper Rodney The Piper]], [[Wrestling/TheMiz Fiz]], Wrestling/{{Mel|ina}}anie, Jimmeny Kimmel, Fredrick The Entertainment and The Honkey Donkey Man on the accidental side. On the Malicious side he's given us [[Wrestling/{{Batista}} The Manimal]], Wrestling/{{J|oey Styles}}ulia Styles, (''"Go fetch me a bowl-a of EXTREME VERMICELLI!"''), [[Wrestling/TheWorldsGreatestTagTeam Goldilocks]], [[Wrestling/{{Sheamus}} Lameass]], and [[Wrestling/JerryLawler Jerry "Stupid" Lawler]]. Incidentally, this was turned on him when he met Chris Jericho.
* AssKickingPose: Wrestlers used to just laugh at or ignore Santino's bend wrist elbow in palm pose until he dropped William Regal with the cobra. Since then, wrestlers have rightly feared it.
* TheArtifact: Marella's judo background was a staple of his early pro wrestling days, when he wrestled in Battlarts and later as a shootfighter in OVW, but although it became less and less apparent as his WWE career went on, it still occasionally manifested as an arm flip or quick shoulder throw in his most technical matches.
* BigOlUnibrow: It started out minor and a sign of evil when he turned heel but started letting it grow out while he dated Maria, making it comedic.
* BoisterousBruiser: During his second run as intercontinental champion is where he really picked up these tendencies and kept them up until his prolonged feud with Sheamus, whom Santino became afraid of.
* BorrowedCatchphrase: Of the MaliciousMisnaming variety. During his promos regarding Stone Cold Steve Austin (See BullyingADragon below), he misquoted the latter's iconic {{Catch Phrase}}s like "Open a can of ass-whoop", "Stomp a mud pie", and "...And those are the bottom line''s''..."
* BreadEggsBreadedEggs[=/=]CostumeCopycat: Heading into the ''Cyber Sunday'' [=PPV=] in October 2008, Santino was the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/ic.html WWE Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion]] and was intent on beating the Wrestling/HonkyTonkMan's streak with that title. On the October 20th ''Raw'', he walked to the ring to cut a promo on his three possible opponents, the Honky Tonk Man, Wrestling/{{Goldust}} and [[Wrestling/RoddyPiper "Rowdy" Roddy Piper]], wearing a HTM wig and carrying a guitar, Goldust's facepaint and Piper's kilt. [[Wrestling/HacksawJimDuggan "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan]] walked out to confront Santino for disrespecting his generation, and apparently hit a BerserkButton by calling Wrestling/BethPhoenix Santino's "boyfriend." Santino took off the wig and kilt, which he threw in Duggan's face before hitting him with the guitar. [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Santino busted his own mouth open in the process.]]
** Also, his TinyGuyHugeGirl pairing with Beth Phoenix was named [[PortmanteauCoupleName "Glamarella."]]
* BuffySpeak
* BullyingADragon[=/=]TooDumbToLive
** On the September 3, 2007 ''Raw,'' he was [[http://www.cagematch.net/?id=93&nr=102 cutting a promo]] when ECW's [[Wrestling/JimFullington "Hardcore Icon" The Sandman]] came down to the ring. Santino said, "Oh my God, you're jealous because I make-a love to beautiful Maria and you (in re: Sandman's Singapore Cane) ... you make-a love to your stick!," and Sandman hit him over the head with the cane.
** On the [[http://www.cagematch.net/?id=93&nr=182 October 22]] and [[http://www.cagematch.net/?id=93&nr=250 October 29]], 2007 episodes of ''Raw'', he actually cut promos mocking '''[[Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin "STONE COLD" STEVE AUSTIN]]''' and his movie ''The Condemned''. Austin showed up on the [[http://www.cagematch.net/?id=93&nr=194 November 5th]] show, and after correcting Santino's mangling of Austin's {{CatchPhrase}}s, Santino said that he couldn't put himself through watching the movie again. Of course, Austin stunned him, then gave him one hell of a beer bath.
* BusCrash: Barely avoided a literal instance of this trope. He was DemotedToExtra after losing the Tag Team titles along with Kozlov (who was later [[PutOnABus 'future endeavored']]) and was recently involved in a [[http://www.wwe.com/inside/santino-car-accident/santino-marella-car-accident-photos pretty brutal wreck.]] Despite how that image looks, he suffered a separated shoulder and that was about it.
* CallingYourAttacks: COBRAAAAA!!!
* CherryTapping[=/=]FingerPokeOfDoom: {{Subverted| trope}}: The Cobra looks like a FingerPokeOfDoom at first, until you realize it's a high velocity poke ''to the throat.'' Maybe it won't knock a guy out, but stunning him for three seconds is actually quite plausible.
* TheChewToy: Even when things go right for Santino, they often don't go right enough not to end up being very painful for him. Such as his girlfriend [[Wrestling/TenilleDashwood Emma]]. He loved her but she had a tendency to ([[TheKlutz accidentally]]) hurt him.
* ChickMagnet: Has a different valet[=/=]ImpliedLoveInterest every couple of years, it seems. First Maria Kanellis, then Beth Phoenix, then Tamina Snuka, and then Emma.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: In his own words:
-->''"On April 10th there's going to be a 25 Diva Battle Royal to determine who will be crowned Miss Wrestling/WrestleMania. I tink I know who's going to be the winner... Santino Marella! You see last week, when Mickie James assault me, I went to Vickie Guerrero an I demanded to be included. Why should I not be included, because of my genitalia? That's sexual discrimination! So I was told if I beat Mickie James with one hand tied behind my back I will have the opportunity to prove that I am man enough to be Miss [=WrestleMania=]!"''
* CompanionCube: The cobra puppet he uses for his FinishingMove.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: He may act like an idiot, but he's actually surprisingly skilled in the ring when the WWE actually lets him loose. In a real life sense, he is a trained amateur wrestler, judoka and mixed martial artist with a supposed 6-1 record, so nobody should allow himself to be deceived by his comedy gimmick (in fact, his first gimmick ever back in OVW was a martial artist).
* DefeatMeansFriendship
** Vladimir Koslov found humor in beating him up. Santino suggested they form a tag team but they didn't officially become one until Koslov had spent a lot more time beating him up.
** Wrestling/TheUsos have gained some level of respect for him. They at least like him better than JTG.
* DiggingYourselfDeeper: After getting an unexpected pin fall victory on Sheamus, Santino became the target of an angry Sheamus. His attempts to make peace in turn, just made Sheamus angrier still.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: He lost his title because his, erm... ''snake'' was too focused on the pretty girl at ringside...[[note]]for bonus points, he usually kept the Cobra sock puppet stored in the lower region of his singlet, making it a literal trouser snake.[[/note]]
* DistractedByTheSexy: His-- er... The Cobra's reason for making him lose the United States Championship.
* DoItYourselfThemeTune: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cni7Z6o4Fy8 He wrote and sang a jingle for a commercial promoting his wrestling school and gym, Battle Arts Academy.]]
* DumbassHasAPoint: Santino may have been a sideshow joke of an intercontinental champion, but he did have a point about how important the title should be versus how WWE treated it.
-->"You see, Goldilocks is merely champion of one country, the Nited States. Santino Marella is the champion of all the landmasses that protrude above the sea level, also known as continents. Which means Santino Marella is the champion of PLANET EARTH!"
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Had a Russian martial artist gimmick in OVW as Boris Alexiev. Even in WWE he started out as a much more serious character, known for feuding with Wrestling/{{Umaga}}; his comedy heel turn came about because people did not buy it.
* ElvisImpersonator: For one night in Memphis.
* FirstNameBasis: He is almost always referred to by his first name. In fact, he is often [=ONLY=] referred to by his first name.
* FoeRomanceSubtext: Both Beth Phoenix and Wrestling/{{Tamina|Snuka}} were his enemies before he started dating them.
* FunnyForeigner: Italian who speaks fluent but misappropriated English, has a very inflated opinion of himself, oversells, has a uni brow, a very over the top entrance theme...
* HuskyRusskie: His old Boris Alexiev character.
* IKnowKarate: In a straighter example than many others, Boris Alexiev boasted in promos of being trained in "judo, sambo, wrestling and kickboxing," and he wasn't afraid of showing it on the ring. In real life, Carelli is really a UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} black belt, a seasoned amateur wrestler and a UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts trainer.
* ImportantHaircut: Got rid of the weird-looking rat tail just as he began making the transition from JokeCharacter to LethalJokeCharacter.
* JokeCharacter: After losing the intercontinental championship back to Umaga, this was largely Santino's fate, even when he won the intercontinental title again and set out to break The Honky Tonk Man's record...no especially when he set out to break that record.
** LethalJokeCharacter: That being said, he still managed some impressive wins under his belt, especially turning what looked to be a SquashMatch against Tensai around by ''body slamming'' a man at least twice his size and then dodging an attempted diving splash to pin Tensai while he was stunned from the impact.
* [[LargeHam LARGE Ham:]] ''Oh, yeah.'' And most times, it's hilarious.
* LeotardOfPower: His most common wrestling attire.
* LethalJokeItem: The Cobra. It seems like a goofy ShoutOut to [[Wrestling/MickFoley Mr. Socko]], but if Santino hits you with it then nine times out of ten you're going down for the three count. The fact that it's a jab at the throat probably helps.
* {{Malaproper}}: It is not just names he gets wrong. Santino also bungles basic phrases. "Are you angered at him?"
* MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong: As Boris Alexiev in OVW. He even had a manager aptly named "Mr. Strongko."
* MudWrestling: What his "[[GimmickMatches Pig Pen Match]]" with Wrestling/VickieGuerrero eventually degenerated into. Excuse us, Santina's pig pen match. Then again, for all that was done, Wrestling/{{Chavo Guerrero| Jr}} might have been better off being the scheduled opponent.
* OddFriendship:
** His "International Superstars" tag team with Wrestling/CarlitoColon, the two really not having much in common, with Carlito emphasizing a need to keep cool and Marella being anything but.
** His following team with Vladimir Kozlov is another odd friendship, being one guy a dead serious Russian shooter and other a crazy Italian loser. Actually not as odd as you could think, in a sort of meta sense: both Kozlov and Marella are real life martial artists, and Marella's first wrestling character was a ''Russian'' fighter.
* OneHitKill: '''CCOOOOBBBBRRRAAAA!!!'''
* PluckyComicRelief: No matter how bad, chaotic or series events got on any given show Santino Marella was on, he always remained his goofy self.
* PowerStable
** (as Boris Alexiev in OVW) Team America
** APPLE with Wrestling/BryanDanielson, Wrestling/MarkHenry and Wrestling/EvanBourne against the Corre.
* PunchParry[=\=]BrawlerLock: The Cobra vs [[Wrestling/MickFoley Mister Socko]] at the 2012 Royal Rumble.
* RedHerringShirt: The seeming {{jobber}} who wound up beating the big scary WildSamoan Umaga.
* TheResenter: He broke up with Maria and sided with Melina and Beth Phoenix against her after she posed for ''Magazine/{{Playboy}}''.
* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Especially "Santina", who was supposed to be female but also supposed to be a ''grown'' female.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: In a battle royale event, after saving himself from being eliminated by Triple H and John Cena, he attempts to clothesline them both...resulting in his ''immediate'' fall to the floor. After he gets back up, he decides the best course of action is to grab himself by the collar & waistband, and ''eliminate himself.'' The in-ring action stops for nearly a minute as everyone is too busy either laughing, or trying to figure out if that actually just happened.
* ShoutOut: Santino's name is one to Wrestling/GorillaMonsoon, whose real name was Robert '''Marella.'''
** His old gimmick, Boris Alexiev is possibly one to Boris Malenko, Wrestling/DeanMalenko's father who was also portrayed as Russian and was a trainer for guys involved in the shoot style wrestling promotions in Japan that Carelli once wrestled for as Joe Basko.
* SignatureMove: A running headbutt drop, with a salute.
* SillyWalk: And always with a lap around the ring.
* SoundtrackDissonance: Santino is a {{fighting clown}} on a good day, and [[JokeCharacter a lovable loser]] otherwise. His entrance theme is a dramatic Italian rock opera piece about a man promising to honor the ancestors that paved the way for him.
* StraightMan: Beth Phoenix, Kozlov and Tamina served as this to him.
* StayInTheKitchen: What Santino devolved into during his feud with Maria Kanellis, blaming the presence of WWE divas on him not being a part of the Money In The Bank Ladder match and telling them all to go home.
-->'''Melina''': Santino, when was the last time you wrestled at Wrestling/WrestleMania? You escorted ME to the ring!
* TheatricsOfPain: Part of the reason some fans consider Santino too much of a joke to hold the US Championship even after he's shown his wrestling ability is because he convincingly sells every single piece of damage he receives during a match, for the rest of the match, which is something basically nobody in the WWE roster does anymore, making him seem weaker than everyone else.
* ThoseTwoGuys: With Vladimir Kozlov.
* TookALevelInBadass: Right around when he teamed with Kozlov. Then in February '12, he wins the Battle Royal to get Randy Orton's spot for Elimination Chamber, gets down to the ''last two'' wrestlers in the Smackdown Chamber (The other being Daniel Bryan) and weeks later wins the US Championship against Jack Swagger.
* {{Wedgie}}: Gave one to Ricardo Rodriguez before eliminating him from the 2012 Royal Rumble.
* WholesomeCrossdresser: As "Santina".
* WorkedShoot: He challenged Jim Cornette on a radio show after Cornette had been released by WWE for slapping him and Santino had been called up to the Raw roster. [[note]]Both elements were key, because WWE, showing a tremendous amount of foresight, "released" Cornette even though he was still the owner of their developmental league OVW, so as long Santino was still in developmental this measure did ''absolutely nothing'' to keep Cornette from slapping him again if he so felt like it. All it really did was allow their developmental company to expand its services to others, which it eventually did.[[/note]] No one really bought it, Jim Cornette being an old man whose slap probably did not even hurt him and whom no one would applaud Santino for actually fighting. It was more likely in response to the constant {{Take That}}s that Wrestling/{{TNA}}, who Cornette went to work for, gave WWE.
* VillainHasAPoint: Despite being an obnoxious heel at the time, his frequent {{Take That}}s against ''Film/TheCondemned2007'' were actually quite merited, given the film's largely negative reception among critics. It helped that he sang an absolutely hilarious VillainSong [[note]](actually a cover of Music/AmyWinehouse's "Rehab" with altered lyrics)[[/note]] regarding it, too.
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