WWE legend, 51, has to wrestle for another decade ‘whatever it takes’

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WWE and TNA star Santino Marella is determined to still be wrestling into his 60s.

The former Intercontinental Champion, who will be hitting the UK later this month for GrandSlam Wrestling in Portsmouth and Dorchester on October 30 and 31, turns 52 in March and he’s been given a new lease of life in recent years.

He exclusively told Metro: ‘I have to wrestle, let’s see – at least have the ability for 10, 12 years. I wanna tag team with my son, he’s turned seven, so if he’s 18 that’s 11 years away.

‘And my little one, she’s four, so I gotta keep active and mobile … Whatever it takes, we gotta keep this high mileage vehicle on the road.’

He’s already teamed up with his eldest daughter Arianna Grace, on television as part of the WWE and TNA partnership, which continues on tonight’s ShowDown episode of NXT on Netflix, and the idea of a four-person family team is an exciting one.

In 2023, Santino told us his body couldn’t handle a full time wrestling schedule, but since May alone he’s wrestled seven matches, and won gold at the IBJJF World Masters Jiu-Jitsu Tournament.

Santino Marella is enjoying a new lease of life (Picture: TNA Wrestling) The 51-year-old star wants to keep wrestling into his 60s (Picture: WWE)

‘My ability to be physical has been restored. When you’ve lost it at some point, you just appreciate it so much more,’ the Canadian wrestler said.

Although he has a ‘little injury’ in his shoulder from the world championships, he feels decades younger, having spent the last two years making positive choices.

‘I’ve just invested in my health with stem cells, and I do red light therapy and PEMF mats, and I have a proper diet, hydrogen water, to getting my blood work done and checking different levels,’ he explained.

He has held his own against the likes of Ethan Page (Picture: WWE) Santino’s daughter Arianna Grace is making waves (Picture: WWE)

He also does ‘almost physio workouts’ not rather than weight training while Jiu Jitsu helps with his mobility, and he’ll be having more stem cell work done in his shoulder and back this month.

‘I really try to grab it by the horns and because of that, I’ve had this incredible resurgence,’ he smiled.

A recent highlight was facing rising star Ethan Page for the NXT North American Championship, and Santino was proud to push himself against someone 15 years his junior.

‘I was totally fine [afterwards],’ he said, while heaping praise on the 31-year-old superstar.

The former IC Champion was full of praise for Ethan Page (Picture: BR/WWE)

‘He should be on Raw, in my opinion. He’s a big leaguer, and a great athlete. We enjoyed the match. He’s a younger guy, he pushed me – I had to keep up and keep moving. I haven’t wrestled intense or that fast for quite some time.’

He’s enjoyed his time at NXT as part of the TNA partnership, seeing how WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels runs the brand, and he’d like a taste of doing something with the same budget.

‘I’ve been coaching for 10 years at my own school, I’ve produced at TNA,’ he explained. ‘But I would love to run a developmental programme, to have a budget and put on television with a big company.’

It’s no surprise his work with TNA has coincided with Santino becoming so revitalised.

Santino didn’t expect to still be going at this point (Picture WWE) His TNA run has renewed his passion for wrestling (Picture: TNA Wrestling)

He beamed: ‘I remembered why I love this business, it made me fall in love with producing television, making moments and being in a locker room. I absolutely never thought my 50s would be the greatest years of my life.’

Being in the UK for the GrandSlam tour will almost bring things full circle for Santino, who won the Intercontinental Title from Umaga on his Raw debut in Milan under his Italian character.

‘The UK fans were always the first group of fans that just understood Santino. They got it because of the history with British comedy wrestling,’ he recalled.

British wrestling legend William Regal was ‘instrumental’ in his development of the character, as Santino was introduced to the likes of Les Kellett.

Santino will hit the UK for a two-night run with GrandSlam Wrestling (Picture: GSW) He has fond memories of wrestling in the UK (Picture: GSW)

‘Some of my favorite memories of working in the WWE are the European tours, because they were so different. We had buses instead of driving our own car, there was always great nightlife in Europe,’ he recalled.

The upcoming dates are also a chance for the Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) alumni to enjoy a side of wrestling he didn’t get to do before WWE.

‘I didn’t do a lot of indies before,’ he explained. ‘To do this stuff now, especially this stage of my life, is really fun. The one on one interaction with the fans is unbeatable.’

He also gets to enjoy the fruit of his labours, having seen Santino go from comedy wrestler to bona fide wrestling legend.

Santino is one of wrestling’s best comedy characters (Picture: WWE)

‘I have developed this equity in the character that I’m vintage now,’ he chucked. ‘If you buy a car, the value goes down because it’s getting older, but they reach a point where it becomes a classic car, and the value starts going back up.’

So, could we Santino in the WWE Hall of Fame one day?

‘If it ever happens, I will just be sobbing like a baby,’ he said. ‘When I see the list of people that are getting inducted, I’m like, “Oh, man, those guys are super legends.”‘

Some people see Santino in that same light, but the man behind the character isn’t so sure.

‘There’s some very deserving people out there,’ he said. ‘To be considered to be anywhere near that level – I must have did something right.’

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