About Santino Marella
Anthony Carelli (born March 14, 1974) is a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Santino Marella. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he works as the on-screen director of authority. He also appears in partner promotion WWE, on its NXT brand. He is the founder of and instructor at Battle Arts Academy, a martial arts and professional wrestling training facility in Mississauga, Ontario, and the official ambassador of Judo Canada. He is best known for his 11-year tenure with WWE. Carelli made his WWE debut during a live episode of Raw from Milan, Italy. Under the character of Santino Marella, a fan selected from the audience, he defeated the Intercontinental Champion Umaga, winning the title in his debut match. During the following years, he would win the Intercontinental title one more time, the United States Championship once and the WWE Tag Team Championship once. He was also involved in a storyline where he worked as Santina Marella, Santino's twin sister. Carelli was released from WWE in 2016. After his WWE departure, he opened Battle Arts Academy and worked for Impact Wrestling under his real name. In 2017, he made sporadic matches on the independent circuit, as well as occasional appearances in WWE. In 2023, Carelli made his return to Impact, now under the TNA banner and performing under the Santino Marella name and gimmick. In 2025, with WWE and TNA having a partnership between the two promotions, Carelli returned to WWE on its NXT brand. Carelli is known for his humorous gimmick as Santino Marella, an Italian stereotype, often being involved in comedic segments, having several on-screen relationships with fellow wrestlers, as well as being crowned "Miss WrestleMania" at WrestleMania XXV disguised as "Santina Marella". The Santino Marella character was awarded Best Gimmick in 2007 and 2008 by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. By this time he also competed in mixed martial arts, in which he claimed in 2006 to have a 6–1 record, although only one fight is confirmed. The unknown Marella scored a surprising upset, and won the WWE Intercontinental Championship with an assist from Bobby Lashley.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.