Santino Marella Discusses Where The Cobra Came From, Favorite Angles, Current Push & More
His fifth anniversary with WWE: "There are many secrets to longevity. One is proper maintenance of your body. When something is sore, take proper care of it, and when something is weak, make it strong. Whole body balanced training is essential; proper diet and supplements go a long way too. I take fish oils, a multi-vitamin, stuff like that. And I don't want to sound preachy here, but easy on the partying too. I rarely drink and if I do it's mostly one or two social beverages. Also, one must get good rest, and I don't do crazy risky stuff off the top ropes all the time."
Becoming a wrestling fan: "I fell in love with wrestling pretty early ? I'd say around 6 or 7. One of my first memories is the Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka and Don 'The Rock' Muraco feud. I was a Snuka fan and my brother was a Muraco fan."
Where the idea for the Cobra came from: "I lived in Japan in 2004 and worked for Battlarts Dojo and one night after a show we were all eating together in the restaurant above the dojo and one of our friends showed me this thing with his arm and transformed it into a cobra. We all laughed and that was that, until years later it popped in to my head and I did it in a match. People popped right away, so I kept it."
Past WWE stars that inspired his humor: "Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan was pretty funny, The Genius too. But my comedy influences probably stem more from childhood TV shows, family sitcoms, friends, family and just life experiences in general."
The highs and lows of his career and his current push: "There are obvious highs and lows in sports entertainment, both with the wrestlers themselves as well as the industry as a whole, but things always seem to bounce back. If I knew how or why I would share it, but the truth is no one really knows what will catch on or create a big change. I do know that fan reactions do speak for themselves with regards to who they want to see more of and whom they appreciate. I also know that I bring something different to the table and that I have paid some dues over the last five years on Raw, so maybe it's simply my time. Either way I'm sure having a great time. It is very tough, however, to always be away from your loved ones, but it's a sacrifice that one must make in order to succeed."
His favorite WWE programs and matches: "I enjoyed tagging with Kozlov and I enjoy working with Jack Swagger currently on the live events. But it's hard to pick one thing to be most proud of because every match is fun and exciting and I try to knock it out of the park every time. I would like to think my best work is yet to come."
Yesteryear star that he would you have most wanted to work a program with: "Growing up there were so many larger than life characters. I would have loved to work a program with almost anyone, but Roddy Piper or Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan definitely stand out as two guys that I would have loved to do some funny entertaining stuff with."
Marella also spoke about being a face vs. being a heel, if he was a class clown in school, if any of his bits bombed and much more, you can check out the full interview by clicking here.
Source: InsideHalton.com