Santino Marella spoke with pride about his daughter, Arianna Grace (Bianca Carelli), and her journey to signing with WWE, emphasizing that she earned her spot through hard work and dedication, dispelling any notion of nepotism.
“She’s something special. She was identified from a young child as just exceptional with regards to her speech, her presence,” Santino said on Insight With Chris Van Vliet. “Luckily, she turned out pretty too… she’s tall, she’s athletic.”
He explained they never discussed wrestling until after she finished university: “And I was like, do you want to do this? She was like, you actually think I can do this? Of course, this is not rocket science. It just takes dedication and hard work… All she had to do, in my opinion, was be the hardest worker in the room, and she became the hardest worker in the room.”
Santino revealed Grace wasn’t hired after her first WWE tryout. “So her first tryout, she was not ready, and she didn’t get hired. Then the switch went off, she packed up, moved to Orlando. She was training at multiple schools, busting her ass, got in great shape. And then when she received another tryout, she just blew them away. She was the talk of the tryout, and she got hired from that.”
He stressed the importance of earning one’s place: “So it was no freebies. When you’re a second-generation talent, the idea of receiving a freebie is a horrible thing to be accused of… Some people will also understand that you’re going to be given an opportunity, but it’s up to you to capitalize on the opportunity.”
