Have WWE dropped the ball with Santino Marella?

[DC 536]

Off-shoot from the "Undeserving Champions" thread

 

Watch this video of Santino Marella as Boris Alexiev. This is the gimmick, IMO, Santino Marella should be using at the moment; a no-frills ass-kicker who just goes into the ring, kicks the crap out of you and then makes you tap out.

 

As I said in the aforementioned thread, he could have ran through the ECW roster, with Tazz putting him over as the most dangerous man in a wrestling ring since he was on his 'Path of Rage' or when Goldberg was in the midst of "Da Streak". And once he'd done that, he could have set his sights on the Smackdown! roster before finally setting his sights on the RAW roster.

 

I feel WWE has seriously dropped the ball with this guy, and all for the sake of a cheap-pop on a European tour.

 

But what about you? Do you think he would be much better as Boris Alexiev (or some Italian-named variant)?

[Guest The Great Ahmar]

Boris Alexiev would have ruled in the WWE. I loved watching him in OVW just rip people apart. WWE has dropped the indeed with him.

[Guest SuperKick Kid]

Oh definately, definately.

 

Boris Alexiev is 10 times the gimmick that Santino is.

[The Fury 65]

for sure. But i'm not sure if WWE don't want instantly to be good, since he was a fan that won the belt.

 

I had a perfect plan for the russian stable

 

Since Kozlov isnt ready, he could've been the spokesmen and announced a deal with wwe and the mma russian federation etc etc. They then take guys like Boris Alexiev, chet the jet and strongko with kozlov as the coach.

 

Would've worked fine and a easy angle to build up.

[Guest Twig]

Yeah, instead of having crap pile matches with Masters, he should be tearing people's arms and legs off. I think it's be great if he'd use different submissions to get people to tap, just yank on them so convincingly and have worked that body part the whole match.

[Guest Nemesis Enforcer]

It would have made his title run alot more convincing and kept some credability to the IC belt if he was a bad ass shooter like he was in OVW thats for sure

 

The crowd are not into Santino which isn't a suprise seeing as he does nothing for them to get behind just flukey wins if he was a Taz style machine that is something to get behind so i'd say yes they have in a big way

[Guest Chriscare]

at 6ft and 227lbs he's only a small guy compared to most WWE wrestlers, this kind of gimmick wouldn't work for him, it'd just make everyone else look bad

[DC 536]

at 6ft and 227lbs he's only a small guy compared to most WWE wrestlers, this kind of gimmick wouldn't work for him, it'd just make everyone else look bad

Kurt Angle and Taz (1996-1999) say hello.

[Nimf 324]

Seriously DC, stop dissing Santino! I love him! You whine about him at home too... :P

[Guest Thirteen]

Kurt Angle and Taz (1996-1999) say hello.

 

As do Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Chris Benoit, Jericho... I'm sure you get the drift.:lol

[Guest Slim Jim]

But they didn't have that gimmick...

[Guest Thirteen]

But they didn't have that gimmick...

 

Fair play... Although Benoit was at one stage very aggressive and his gimmick(if he ever really had one) did actually involve the fact that he was just too overwhelming at times for his oponents.

I mean he's called 'The Crippler' for petes sake.:)

[Guest Dave7g]

So if he was great in OVW, how come is is absolutley diabolical now? Is that his gimmick too, that he's shite?

[Guest Thirteen]

So if he was great in OVW, how come is is absolutley diabolical now? Is that his gimmick too, that he's shite?

 

Wow, who rattled your cage eh?:lol

[Guest Dave7g]

No,not at all. I'm as happy as a boy could be, but this Marella guy sucks worse than Chris Masters, Matt Striker and Carlito all at once.

[DC 536]

So if he was great in OVW, how come is is absolutley diabolical now? Is that his gimmick too, that he's shite?

I have no idea. Unless he was told he was working a non-WWE way in OVW and had to "re-learn" his craft.

[Guest Slim Jim]

Well it's for the better he wont be fighting Masters anymore.

[Nimf 324]

Well it's for the better he wont be fighting Masters anymore.

See, isn't Masters pretty much the only one he's fought so far anyway? So isn't it a bit hard to judge what he's like?

[Guest The Great Ahmar]

He had a decent (and his best) match V MVP this past Raw.

[Guest dpddave]

No,not at all. I'm as happy as a boy could be, but this Marella guy sucks worse than Chris Masters, Matt Striker and Carlito all at once.

 

He must have a hell of a big mouth.....

[Guest Chriscare]

Kurt Angle and Taz (1996-1999) say hello.

 

Tazz was in ECW then, not WWE, and he was given a similar gimmick his first few months in WWE but it didn't last long.

 

As for Kurt Angle, he wasn't given that kind of gimmick until he went to ECW, it worked because he's already a well established wrestler

 

Fair play... Although Benoit was at one stage very aggressive and his gimmick(if he ever really had one) did actually involve the fact that he was just too overwhelming at times for his oponents.

I mean he's called 'The Crippler' for petes sake.:)

 

Same again, Benoit was a very well established wrestler by the time he came to the WWE, and he was given the name the crippler in ECW not WWE.

 

So like i said, that gimmick wouldn't work for this guy in WWE

Edited June 15, 2007 by Chriscare

[Guest Twig]

You guys don't think fans will buy a technically based wrestler who can pick apart the lumbering power giants of WWE? I do.

 

So if he was great in OVW, how come is is absolutley diabolical now? Is that his gimmick too, that he's shite?

 

Well c'mon there, man. They're putting him out there with the booking that he has to make guys like Masters look better than himself, and then win with a roll up or something.

Edited June 15, 2007 by Twig

[Guest Chriscare]

You guys don't think fans will buy a technically based wrestler who can pick apart the lumbering power giants of WWE? I do.

 

Perhaps, but it'd just make every giant he beats look amazingly weak. It's like he's some guy who's come from UFC or something.

[Guest Da Showstoppa]

You guys don't think fans will buy a technically based wrestler who can pick apart the lumbering power giants of WWE? I do.

 

For sure they would. But over in Vinny Mac land the giants rule the ring. Of course the fans would love to see technical and aggressive wrestlers, even if they are smaller. But WWE's brainstrust doesn't want that, they want to push on with the bigger, badder guys.

 

Question:

 

If you had to push either a 400pound 7ft3 monster (who can barely execute even the most basic move) or a 5ft3 gifted shootfighter that legitimately could tear his opponents' in half - which would you think fans would want to see?

 

Exactly, but the problem Gentle reader is that the fans don't call the shots regardless of what McMahon's constant PR speak says. WWE want to give the fans what they want - so long as it doesn't conflict with what they want to give us.

 

That's exactly why TNA's X-Division opened the eyes of every fan who saw it, as ECW had done half a decade before. As WWE likes to say, they "Got it".

 

Imagine, if you will: Samoa Joe and AJ Styles are swept off to WWE in the wrestling coup of the decade. What do you think happens;

 

A: Both debut within weeks of each other. Both are given time to show their stuff in the ring before the first sparks of a feud begin to ignite between them. AJ Snares the US/IC title and embarks on a reign punctuated with amazing defences (ala RVD in ECW) Joe is there and eventually the two collide in a series of epic matches, elevating not only Aj and Joe - but the title itself. WWE allows guys like Carlito, MVP and Masters to be in the mix as well, bringing their game up too. Eventually the IC matches are back at the top of the cards like in the 80's 90's and so it's time for the feuds to elevate once again. WWE carefully injects the likes of AJ and Joe to the main event, where they can hang with Triple H, HBK, Edge and Cena. Suddenly the whole pace of WWE is kicked up a gear. The WWE title picture has a range of challengers and champions. Joe V Cena, AJ V HBK etc. Eventually Joe comes into the crosshairs of Triple H, and cleanly defeats him at WrestleMania, setting in motion a whole new chain of events.

 

And then there's B:

 

AJ and Joe are introduced, and they begin seperate feuds with the lower echelons of WWE having to "learn the trade" AJ is then inserted to the "non existant" Cruiserweight title division where he is pretty much king of a small heap. Maybe a US title reign follows before WWE decide "Y'know that crazy guy would be great in ECW" Joe is repackaged and mills around the midcard, being of smaller stature, he's regularly beaten by the likes of Khali, Viscera and murdered by the "top talent" before he's sent to OVW to "learn how to work WWE style" because he can't possibly be a threat to the 6ft4 HHH or the 6ft5 Cena. He might be alright with HBK possibly, but HBK is a huge star so we can't have him put over him. Meantime the thrilling HHH V Cena V Snitsky WWE title picture thrills fans worldwide :roll

 

 

Sorry for the rant there :-0

 

 

Mike

[Guest Twig]

Perhaps, but it'd just make every giant he beats look amazingly weak. It's like he's some guy who's come from UFC or something.

 

I thought Vince was wanting to bring the realism of UFC to the WWF. A believable wrestler could do that better than refs not knowing a finish ;)