Santino Marella On Almost Winning The Title At Elimination Chamber 2012, Jim Cornette, And If John Cena Wrestled With An Erection

November 7, 2018

By Tyler Treese

WWE veteran and current IMPACT Wrestling host Anthony Carelli (formerly known as Santino Marella) did a great question and answer session with fans on Reddit. He touched on a number of interesting topics including WWE Evolution, almost winning the WWE title, and whether or not John Cena wrestled with an erection.

Check out some highlights from the thread below.

On Elimination Chamber 2012 and almost winning the belt:

There wasn’t any formal talk about [my character winning the belt]. I always thought there would be a special, one-night-only moment type of thing where I would win the belt. However, some people think that Vince almost changed the finish on the fly after hearing the crowd’s reaction that night.

[I prefer] Elimination Chamber [over the Royal Rumble moment] because I was one count away from being Heavyweight Champion. At Royal Rumble, I was one person away from the main event of WrestleMania. Either one would have been pretty good to achieve!

Where Santina Marella was at during WWE Evolution:

My sister Santina was in fact at Evolution. But security wouldn’t let her in the building. They thought she was a fan trying to work her way in.

On how Ronda Rousey could improve her promos:

Ronda’s promos are better than most people give her credit for, because she’s speaking quite honestly rather than in character. She could study somebody like an evangelist with regards to cadence, timing and how to conduct a large audience.

His feelings on Jim Cornette:

As a person, his actions speak for themselves. He’s not very well respected by many people. As a personality in the business, I thought he was entertaining. The situation at OVW was his error. He can defend it all he wants, but he knows that he was in the wrong. I’m completely over the situation, I don’t like to carry around any ill feelings for anybody.

Whether or not John Cena had an erection during the mixed tag match of Cena and Trish Stratus against Santino and Beth Phoenix:

I cannot confirm nor deny he had an erection. But I’ve seen some pictures that allude to such.

The origins of the “Cobra” move and how protected it was:

A Japanese guy once showed me how to do the Cobra in the bar in Saitama, Japan. We were sitting around drinking and he wanted to show me this trick he does with his arm. I thought it was funny at the time, and basically forgot about it for several years. It was like he planted a seed. Then one day it popped back into my head, I used it in a match and the Cobra was born.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but over the years nobody really kicked out of it! That’s why everybody went nuts at Elimination Chamber. Only Sheamus had ever kicked out of it without the cobra sleeve, and Daniel Bryan was the first to kick out of it with the sleeve.