Former WWE Intercontinental Champion Santino Marella will be returning to the ring on August 27th for Destiny World Wrestling’s show in Mississauga, Canada. ‘Summer Heat,’ being billed as the promotion’s biggest show of the year is also advertising Alberto El Patron as the featured attraction. This would be his first wrestling match since retiring after undergoing a third neck surgery. He officially retired at a July 6, 2004 house show in Toronto, Ontario and remained under contract with WWE until last year. Consdering his neck issues, my guess is that this return to the ring is a one-time only deal.
He made his main roster debut in 2007 and he started out with a big push. The company booked him to win the Intercontinental Championship from Umaga on his first night on Raw. Several months later, they began to turn him heel by scripting him to become jealous of his storyline girlfriend Maria Kanellis.
He would eventually morph into a comedy character as one-half of the “Glamarella” tag team with Beth Phoenix. Then he adopted the gimmick of being the “greatest Intercontinental Champion of all-time” when he beat The Honky Tonk Man’s reign. Around this time, they introduced the Honk-A-Meter counter to chronicle the number of days he was champion.
He eventually turned face and got over huge with the crowds. Marella, dressed as his “sister” Santina Marella, entered the WrestleMania 25 “Miss WrestleMania” battle royal and won. During his time with the company, he got over when many were saying that he was a joke wrestler. Towards the end of his run, when his injuries were getting progressively worse, he would take less bumps and to get around his neck issues, he introduced a “cobra” sock puppet and incorporated it into his matches. Marella is a 2-time Intercontinental Champion, former WWE Tag Team Champion, and a former WWE United States Champion.
Marella is also advertised as the special guest for the Destiny show in Halifax. That show is scheduled for August 25th. As of last night, there were just 500 tickets left for the show in Mississauga. These two shows are part of the promotion’s first live tour across Ontario. If you would like more information, visit destinyworldwrestling.com.
