By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Is Santino Marella on his way to a main event spot? Who’d have thought we’d ever be asking ourselves that question?

When Randy Orton went down with an injury a couple of weeks ago, it seemed to throw a monkey wrench in WWE’s plans for Wrestlemania XXVIII. At that point, Orton was scheduled to compete in a 6-man Elimination Chamber match at this past Sunday’s Elimination Chamber pay per view. The winner of that match would have carried the World Heavyweight Title into Wrestleania, presumably wrestling Sheamus, the Royal Rumble winner. It would have made perfect sense for WWE to put Orton and Sheamus together at the biggest show of the year. Orton is one of of the company’s biggest stars, and they’re trying to push Sheamus to his level of popularity. But Orton’s injury derailed all of that.

Enter Santino Marella, who was given Orton’s spot in the match. That move baffled a lot of fans, as Santino has been WWE’s resident cartoon character for years now. The real-life Anthony Carelli has spent most of his time on the main roster speaking broken English in an over-the-top Italian accent. While he’s won his share of championships (two Intercontinental Titles and a Tag Team Title), he’s always been booked in light-hearted, if not downright comedic storylines and backstage bits. He’s been one of WWE’s go-to guys for funny moments with celebrity guest stars like Bob Barker, Snoop Dogg, and Freddie Prinze Jr.

These days, he uses a snake puppet in his matches as he does an exaggerated “Cobra” strike. Over the years he’s had his share of duds (remember when he dressed in drag as Santina Marella?) but he’s managed to be consistently entertaining and funny with whatever they’ve given him. His wit and comedic timing are the best we’ve seen since Bobby Heenan, and his mannerisms are delightfully wacky and over the top, and most importantly, he’s fun to watch. He was given a cartoony stereotype that could easily have fallen on its face. But he tackled it and embraced it to the point that  notoriously jaded and fickle wrestling fans love him, and tend to chant his name at events.

But Santino Marella in the Heavyweight Title picture? Not exactly a likely scenario. On paper, this was like Jar Jar Binks being asked to blow up the Death Star. To some, having Santino battle for the World Heavyweight Title actually devalued it. But nevertheless, the decision was made. Santino Marella would be one of six men competing for the title….

When the night was over, the man who’d spent more of his TV time doing slapstick comedy than wrestling had gained a newfound respect from the fans. Marella shocked the audience by being one of the last two men in the match, surpassing The Big Show, Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes and The Great Khali. Many a fan suddenly found their eyes glued to the ring. No one had expected Santino to make it this far, and now the World Heavyweight Title was within his reach. In that moment, many a fan suddenly believed that this goofy cartoon character could actually be the champion. They suspended their disbelief, and to an extent became kids again, entranced by the art of pro wrestling. In the end, Daniel Bryan retained the title, but the match may have represented a turning point in Santino’s career. Last night on Raw, the fans seemed more behind him than ever as he eliminated both Barrett and R-Truth from a battle royale.

So now we must ask ourselves: Is it possible for a comedic character like Santino Marella to stand next to guys like John Cena and Randy Orton in the upper echelon of WWE? The answer, in my opinion, is yes. But Santino’s presentation would need to be tweaked.

Obviously, humor is an element WWE uses constantly in their product. But if a guy like John Cena or Sheamus is in some sort of comedy skit, they don’t suddenly become comedic characters. Fans understand and respect the fact that these guys are dangerous heavy hitters who are simply enjoying a moment of comic relief. With Santino, it would be the other way around. WWE would have to convince us that Santino, despite his goofy nature, can be threatening, dangerous, and a credible threat to other wrestlers.

Step one in this process would be to play up the fact that Santino can in fact wrestle. He’s got a background in Judo, amateur wrestling and mixed martial arts, and is pretty smooth in the ring when he needs to be. Those are all factors they can play up so that he doesn’t seem like it’s so far fetched that he could win a match against a well established opponent.

Step two: Give him a real finisher. The Cobra is a fun little gimmick, and I’m not opposed to him keeping it. But if we’re going to play up his wrestling a bit more, then let’s give him an actual wrestling move to win matches with. Heck, maybe give him a submission hold to play up his MMA background! That’d give him a bit more credibility.

But if they’re going to work to give Santino more credibility as a competitor, great care needs to be taken not to tarnish the character that got him over so well in the first place. The humorous element of Santino’s presentation doesn’t necessarily need to be watered down, it just needs to be adjusted so that they jokes aren’t so much on Santino, but on his opponents. This hasn’t been as much of a problem in recent months, which is a good sign. The best example I can think of in terms of what not to do in this respect, is when Santino tried to pull of Melina Perez’s split-legged ring entrance a few years ago. He fell on his ass, clutched his groin, screamed, convulsed a little bit, and totally hammed it up. It was perfectly fine for what he was doing at the time. But if they’re going to try and elevate him? Not so much. That’s not to say that he can never be the butt of a joke again, but let’s just take a break from that sort of thing for awhile and see what happens.

Let’s be honest, here: Will Santino Marella ever carry the company? Probably not. He’s never going to be a Cena or an Orton. But does that mean he can’t play a major role in the success of WWE in the modern era? Not at all. The best example I can think of in this respect is what Mick Foley did as Mankind in the late ’90s. At that point, Mankind had become primarily a comedic character, and was providing us with some great moments alongside The Rock, Vince McMahon, and even Al Snow. But at the end of the day, you knew that when the gloves were off, Mankind could tear anybody apart in the ring. Fans respected him, both as an entertainer and a wrestler.

I don’t think fans lack respect for Santino as an entertainer. The effort he puts into his work is more than evident. But if we’re going to start transitioning him into a more expanded role, we need to learn to respect him as a wrestler. If that happens, we may have a new, yet unlikely, big name star on our hands.

Front page image from wallpapers7x.blogspot.com. Image 1, 3 and 4 from bleacherreport.com. Image 2 from fun.musicsongz.com.