Smark Out Moment

On this seventh edition of SUPERSTAR SCORES, we take a look at a yet another person who has just been forced to hang up their boots and retire from in-ring competition. He has been a comedic character for the majority of his career, but that still didn't stop him from being very popular and winning multiple championships. He is The Milan Miracle himself, Santino Marella.

If you're unfamiliar with how the segment works, here is a quick breakdown: Each edition, a wrestler will be put under the spotlight and rated on a 0-100 scale based on 10 categories that have been broken up into 5 umbrella sections: In the Ring Skills, On the Mic Skills, Appearance, Backstage, and Crowd Reaction. The rating scale is as basic as you can get: 0-1-2-3-4 | 5 | 6-7-8-9-10. It follows the Three-Count Critique method of green being the good, yellow being in the middle, and red being the bad. A perfect 100 is the goal.

So for someone who has made a career out of not being taken seriously, how does Santino rank on Superstar Scores?


Update: On March 20, 2020, we did a recalibration of points for a 25th episode special. In that episode, nearly every wrestler saw some adjustments. Below, you'll see the original scores on the left and then the updated score on the right, with the original description for the original score underneath. For explanation on the updated points, check out the 25th edition podcast.

IN THE RING SKILLS

Athleticism: Does the person have a good signature moveset and finisher? Can they perform a wide variety of moves on a regular basis and not botch them?

My Rating = 5
Santino was never flipping around the ring, nor was he someone like Khali who can barely walk to the ring.

Psychology: The wrestler's ability to tell a story in the ring. Do they make you believe it's real or do they forget to sell their injuries properly? Can they make a long match stay interesting and not get boring?

My Rating = 6 / 8
For the most part, Santino always seemed to know what he was doing to get the crowd involved. When he had to hulk up, he chose a good time that the audience could believe in it and get suckered in. Just look at how he handled almost winning the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber for examples.

ON THE MIC SKILLS

Charisma: If they get a mic, can they cut a promo without stuttering? Are they repetitive or do they keep things fresh?

My Rating = 8
The best attribute of Santino has been his promos.

Character: Is their gimmick(s) interesting? Can they pull off being both a heel and a face?

My Rating = 8
Santino's had multiple variations of his gimmick over the years as both a heel and a face. Each time, he was able to get at least marginally over with the crowd, despite the jobber handicap, as well Not many people can do that.

APPEARANCE

Physique: Are they in the proper shape for their gimmick or are they out of shape? (note: someone like Mabel isn't supposed to look like John Morrison, but Matt Hardy gaining weight deducts his points).

My Rating = 5
If you were crafting the perfect wrestler, you wouldn't go with Santino's look. Still, he was in shape and not bad whatsoever; just another average score.

Entrance: Their music, the pyro if they have any, whatever taunts or actions they do to make it interesting.

My Rating = 5
His theme fit him, his walk to the ring was interesting for a little bit, and that's about it. Average.

BEHAVIOR

Backstage: Are they a locker room leader or do they cause problems behind the scenes? Are they bogged down in politics? Do they put other people over or screw people over?

My Rating = 7
Outside of the Jim Cornette story, I haven't really heard anything else about him having issues with people backstage. Even so, Cornette seems to have issues with a lot of people, so it might not have been Santino's fault, either.

Public Relations: Is this wrestler a public relations problem with arrests and such, or are they someone that promotes the company well, does charities, talk shows, etc?

My Rating = 6
Santino speaks well and although he doesn't have a perfect record with the law, he's not causing constant issues, getting suspended, or anything of the sort. I don't think we've seen him tap into his potential quite yet in this regard, so I'm giving him a bit of a bump up from average.

CROWD REACTION

Popularity: How loud are the cheers and boos for them? Do they sell merchandise? Are ratings up or down when they're on screen? How many Twitter and Facebook followers do they have?

My Rating = 7
Santino could have very easily fallen by the wayside after his debut and been released shortly afterward, but he has stuck in there and consistently been a relatively popular member of the roster for his whole career. He was never regularly the most over person on the card, but he's had his enormous pops and he's had his regular fan base.

Credibility: Is this person someone you would see as a main eventer and a future legend or are they doomed to forever be a jobber?

My Rating = 3
Virtually every time Santino won a match, it felt as if he devalued his opponent because of how often Santino would lose. You can't be primarily a jobber and then have a high level of credibility.

TOTAL SCORE: 60/100 - 62/100

FINAL THOUGHTS: Santino had a lot of negative factors working against him, but he etched his spot into the WWE Universe and made the product better as a result of his performances. Not everyone is meant to be a multiple time world champion. Some people are far more valuable to just be an entertaining performer like Santino was. I definitely think he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame one of these days in the future down the line, even if his score here doesn't measure up to many others.