"I wish someone could explain"- Santino Marella doesn't understand major backstage decision made by WWE
Despite only retiring a few years ago, Santino Marella already has the second generation of his lineage entering WWE. His daughter, formerly Bianca Carelli, now goes by the name Arianna Grace. In a new interview, he revealed a decision made by the promotion that he doesn't understand.
Marella's daughter was renamed soon after signing with WWE. Under the new NXT 2.0 umbrella, WWE hasn't wasted time getting her on TV and giving her experience. It's seemingly part of the new process of not wanting to keep stars in developmental for long.
Marella appeared on the latest Monday Mailbag with Mike Chioda. He addressed the topic of his daughter not being allowed to use the Marella surname - a rule that has even poured on to The Rock's daughter (now named Ava Raine). The veteran said that he couldn't understand the decision to change stars' last names:
“I wish someone could explain the logic behind it,” Marella said. “It’s fine, if my daughter was ‘Arianna Marella,’ I don’t see a problem with that. They started that at first with Curtis Axel, Mr. Perfect’s son, but everybody knew who he was. I think there’s some equity in being the second generation."
He continued:
"But it’s great for her too because when you’re a second or third-generation wrestler, it’s really important for them to know that they’ve earned this and they’re not just getting a free pass because of who their parents are.” (H/T WrestlingInc)
Santino Marella went on to use the example of Cody Rhodes, who he credited for working extra hard to ensure that nobody could say he was there only because of his father.
Santino Marella wished his daughter a happy birthday recently
Although there is no official record of how old Santino Marella's daughter is, his recent post suggested that she was born in 1995. However, it doesn't add up as WWE listed her age as 25 in the recent NXT Breakout tournament, where Nikkita Lyons eliminated her.
Either way, the young star has a great look and could prove to be a huge prospect for WWE. She has little experience in wrestling, but certainly enough to give her an advantage while training in the WWE Performance Center.