Santino Shoot Interview

It was one of the first times the WWE thought outside the box and had a “fan” hit the ring and capture a major secondary WWE title and they picked a guy who not only was one of the toughest guys outside the ring, but also one of the funniest.  Santino sits down with RF VIDEO for his first ever shoot interview and by far entertains us for hours with some of the funniest stories of all time.  This interview was awesome from start to finish with one great story after another.  Santino talks all about his legit MMA and Judo background before taking us into the world of Pro Wrestling. You will hear how he was trained and also made a name for himself in Canada for being one of the best of all time in his class for Judo.  How did he end up going over to Japan for a year?  But you really will be buying this DVD to hear about his entire WWE run from the first time he entered the OVW arena until his final appearance with the company.  The stories are golden and his deleivery of his trials and tribulations will keep you on the edge of your seat and wanting more and more. For the first time ever and full detail Santino gives his side of the story on the infamous slap in OVW and what really went down between the two.  What would happen if Santino was in the same building would he be able to talk to him, does he have hostile feelings towards Jimmy or does he forgive him.  The interview is just amazing and maybe one of my favorites so far in 2016 that we have conducted. Santino was lucky enough to be around some really great teachers like Rip Rogers, Al Snow and of course Paul Heyman in OVW and you will hear stories on all of them.  What did Paul Heyman teach Santino early on in his career.  How did Rip Rogers shape him from his early lectures and lessons that Santino now preaches today to his class at the Battle Arts Academy. You will hear how he learned the Italian language and how Vince reacted to his character when he first was introduced on TV.  We talk about his early matches in OVW before he got called to the main rooster to debut over seas and face the biggest monster in WWE in a long time Umanga.  Was he comfortable being a comedy character after he dropped the belt?  What was it like working with the biggest names in the business like Steve Austin, Roddy Piper and Snoop Dog who was also a professional when he came into work his angle.  We talk about some of the bigger highlights of his career like teaming with Beth Phoenix, doing the Honky Meter, loosing in the Royal Rumble in record time and also almost winning the Elimination Chamber match in which fans still talk about to this day. Santino has so many funny road stories on traveling with Kahli, Vladimir and Sandow. What happened behind the scenes with Cody Rhodes and himself when they faced off in a very personal competition.  Santino talks about his car accident that could have ended his career early. Where did the Cobra finish come from and how was John Cena a supporter of his?  You will hear a lot about John Cena as well as I have many questions regarding how John Cena is one of the hardest workers of all time and a true locker room leader.  You will hear about his time working with Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo, being paired with Teddy Long and being apart of WrestleMania in Miami.  What does he think of Donald Trump?  His stories are endless and hilarious.  Santino talks about his career ending injury that put him on the sideline and made him retire early.  How did he get released and was he happy with the decision?  What was HHH and Steph like to work with compared to Vince?  He gives his views on CM Punk leaving the company and Bryan Danielson hanging up the tights early on.  What are his views on Brock going back to do UFC 200? Does he ever want to go back to the WWE or even try to wrestle again?  Santino sat with us for hours and I know your going to love this interview a lot.  When it was finished I even wanted more myself but we covered everything we needed to and then some.  Now for the first time ever hear and see his views on the business as he sits down with RFVIDEO.com to discuss his career that has entertained the masses. Let’s start talking about what life was like growing up in Canada were you a wrestling fan growing up? Who were your favorites? Talk about your martial arts background and What made you decide to start to train? Did the business come easy to you? Talk about breaking in on the Canadian independent scene? How did you get hooked up with Battlarts in Japan? Where did the  Johnny Geo Basco name come from? Talk about the experiences of going to Japan How hard was the style? Talk about competing in MMA? How different is the training vs. professional wrestling Memories of fighting Takashi Ishino? Break down how you would train a brand new talent for pro wrestling from scratch vs. a MMA fighter from scratch? What led to you going to train at OVW? First impressions of Danny Davis? Explain your side of the incident where you laughed at the Boogeyman instead of showing fear – were you told to show fear? What was the reaction of the other wrestlers and OVW personel after it happened? Were you surprised when WWE reacted to the incident? Who at WWE contacted you? Do you think they expected you to sue them? Do you think he should have been? Paul Heyman – describe your interactions and thoughts on him during his time in OVW? Talk about the creation of the Boris Alexi character? Memories of working with Mike Kruel? Are you shocked WWE never called him up? When did you find out you were getting a developmental deal? Do you think you’d have been offered the deal had the situation not happened? Memories of the following from OVW: Aaron Stevens Shawn Spears Cody Rhodes Chet the Jet Roadkill Ken Doane Armando Alejandr Estrada KC James Shad Gaspard Jack Bull Nick Nemeth aka Dolph Elijah Burke Milena aka Rosa Mendes Shelly Martinez Mike Mondo ODB When did you find out you were being called up? Were you surprised to find out you weren’t going to be Boris but a new character named Santino? Did you know at the time the Marella surname was a tribute to Gorilla Monsoon? What sort of back story did you get about him before they had you debut? Talk us through that first day as WWE worked out the spot? Memories of the night you came out of the crowd to defeat Umaga? Memories of feuding with Chris Masters? Were you surprised WWE had you drop the belt back to Umaga so quickly? were you still training at OVW during all this and if so, when did you finally leave developmental? Who came up with the idea of putting you with Maria Kanellis? Memories of her? What did you think of the angle where you were trying to stop her from appearing in Playboy? Talk about the character slowly turning into a more comedic personality – at first, not knowing how it was going to work out, were you concenred you were going to be pigeonholed in that role?  Is there a point where you embraced it? What makes a good comedy character in wrestling? Who was writing for the character at this point? What insight do you get from Vince McMahon? Is his locker room truly open for everyone these days? Where did the idea of Marella speaking broken english come from? Memories of the vignettes with Steve Austin where you get laid out to help promote The Condemned? Memories of getting to work with Snoop Dogg at Wrestlemania 24 as part of the Playboy Bunny Lumberjack match? Memories of wrestling Maria on Raw and getting beat up by the Divas? Memories of getting to work with Roddy Piper and doing the vignette on Jimmy Kimmel with him? How do you end up put together with Beth Phoenix and putting together the Glamarella deal? Memories of the second IC title run and the Honky Meter, trying to break Honkytonk Man’s record? Do you feel WWE pulled the trigger too soon on ending that gimmick? Having the shortest Rumble appearance in history? Were you surprised when the crowd turned you babyface after Wrestlemania 25 with the Santina gimmick? Did you have any issue with dressing in drag and playing your own sister? Did you think any of the women were pissed when they found out you were winning the Miss Wrestlemania crown? Are there any major differences working with women in the ring? Memories of wrestling Vickie Guerrero? Any insight into working with Donald Trump when he fired Santina? Break down what a typical TV day is like for a wrestler at Raw, when you find out about your segments and how much they change over the course of the day? Was there ever anything WWE scripted for you that you weren’t happy about doing or tried to have changed? First thoughts on the tag team with Vladimir Kozlov? Was he easy to work with? Memories of winning the tag belts? Where did the Cobra finisher come from? Talk about John Cena – is he a locker room leader or does he play politics? There’s stories that Cena politically cut the legs out of Alex Riley – any insight into that? Why do you think Ted DiBiase Jr. never made it in WWE? You were put with Tamina but over time, the relationship was dropped – any insight into why? You were out of action for a few months after a car accident – what happened? Memories of working with the Muppets on Raw? Memories of working as Teddy Long’s assistant? Memories of going all the way to the end of the 40 Man Rumble agaisnt Alberto – what was the reaction backstage to the audience going nuts for that? Thoughts on Alberto and your feud with Ricardo? Memories of the Elimination Chamber match where you almost went all the way and the crowd went nuts for it? Did you ever approach management pitching a bigger push for you after getting such huge reactions in spots where the audience thought you might pull off a miracle win? Do you think the company couldn’t envision you beyond the comedy role? Was it ever frustrating to you? Memories of captaining Team Teddy Long vs. Team John Laurinautis at Wrestlemania in Miami? Memories of working with the following in WWE Randy Orton Ryback Triple H Stephanie McMahon Kofi Kingston Hardocre Holly Ken Anderson William Regal Drew McIntyre Zack Ryder John Mirrison Sheamus Mark Henry Heath Slater David Otunga Kane Big Show Justin Gabriel Neville Titus O’Neill Christian Usos Jack Swagger Cesaro Miz Tyson Kidd & Natalya? Highlights of working with Hornswoggle and Great Khali? Memories of working the Andre the Giant Battle Royal at Mania 30? What was your favorite Wrestlemania memory? Talk about what the Mania week experience is like for WWE talents? Talk about the beginning of the on screen relationship with Emma? Do you think WWE failed to introduce her properly since the audience didn’t know her the way the NXT fans did? Do you think you being off TV hurt her momentum early on? Thoughts on her shoplifting arrest and being released before WWE rescinded the decision? When did you first realize you were having such bad neck issues? What did you do in order to try and rehab and repair the neck? Talk about the night you announced you were retiring in Toronto –  when did you inform WWE about it or was it a decision they made for you? Talk about how intensive the WWE Wellness Policy and their overview of the talents’ medical is? If it wasn’t for the Wellness medical (example: if you were in TNA instead), would you have know how bad your neck was? You’ve worked towards a potential comeback but it hasn’t happened – talk about your health these days and how your neck feels day to day? Thoughts on Daniel Bryan’s retirement? Thoughts on the WWE-CM Punk issues and Punk walking out? How do you think Punk will fare in MMA? We are filming this a few days befre Brock returns to UFC – what happens when he faces off with Mark Hunt? How was Brock in the locker room?  Does he socialize or is he off on his own? How did you get tapped to star in Jingle All The Way 2 for WWE Studios? Memories of making the film? What was it like working with Larry the Cable Guy? How different is acting in a film from what you would do on Raw and Smackdown? Memories of the Santino Christmas Party on Smackdown? Were you surprised when the company made the decision to let you go? Who called you and informed you? Do you think after all those years that Triple H or Vince should have been the one to call you? How much had you been in conversations with the company around this time? Had there been any talks of you doing other roles for WWE before releasing you? Talk about your wrestling school and why you feel it stands out among the other schools out there? What are the chances you’ll ever return to the ring? What are your favorite road stories? Craziest interaction with a Santino fan? Was there anything you didn’t get to accomplish during your run you wish you had been able to do? Would you want to go back to work for the company in a non-wrestling role? If and when you are inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, who would you want to induct you? What are the biggest misconceptions of Anthony Carelli since most people see and know you as the Santino character? Would TNA or ROH or Japan be a potential home for you down the line? Would you want to chance to do more acting? Who’s the one talent you’d like to see WWE use more? Were you surprised WWE didn’t try and put Sandow into a spot similar to yours after you left the ring? Why do you think WWE underutulized him so much? Are you still watching the product today or is it to hard to watch it? Any final words for your fans?