Santino Marella Talks Jim Cornette Slapping Him In The Face, His WWE Release And More

Former WWE Superstar Santino Marella was recently a guest on the Jordan Garber NOW podcast with Jordan Garber which is available through VOCNation.com. You can check out the full interview here along with a few highlights below.

Getting slapped by Jim Cornette: “Jim Cornette was upset because of The Boogeyman malfunction. Cornette was really pissed some people were laughing and this was like his big debut basically I have a smirk on my face because I thought The Boogeyman was going to scare my daughter so Cornette thought I was being disrespectful so he called me to the back and slapped me in the face.”

Making his WWE debut: “I got signed in August in 06. I went home for a few months to get my work visa. I was on my way to Elizabethtown, KY for a live OVW event I get a call from the office they were saying ‘you’re Italian right?’ I said, ‘yeah my dad’s from Italy’ and they are like, ‘can you speak Italian?’ I said yeah, so they bought it flew me down and I made my debut two days later.”

His comedy gimmick: “They lost faith in the gimmick so they turned me heel. When I did the heel voice with the accent I guess so much more personality came out of it and Vince loved it.”

What it’s like to work with Vince McMahon: “I love Vince. Vince is the man, he doesn’t even know how much of a mentor he is to me. When I watch him work and the hustles he has it’s unparalleled it’s amazing. He’s just the man.”

His WWE release: “I wasn’t negatively affected at all. it was like thank you very much that’s the end of one chapter it was awesome, it was amazing. I wasn’t released the contract just ran out and they just opted not to renew it.”