Anthony Carelli (aka Santino Marella) recently spoke with Wrestlezone’s Bill Pritchard about his career in professional wrestler and judo, and was asked if he has any important advice he’d like to share with today’s new talent. Carelli says learning to tell stories and not beating up your body too much is key, and shared how keeping it simple and taking care of yourself is something he hopes people take into consideration.
“I started wrestling late, but even when I first started, I would fly off the top rope every time, crash and burn, I’d go for the headbutt and always miss it. It takes a toll on you too, you know, I just think that, if you’re able to tell the story, and really capture the audience, you don’t need to do all that crazy shit. Simple backflips,” Carelli said, “landing on your head and all that crazy stuff. I know people like to do it, and that’s fine, you can build towards it and do it like one big crazy spot in a match. You don’t need 15 crazy spots in a match. That’s about it. And of course, your body is your business. You have to take care of it. You have to get meticulous and methodical about your warming up, and your training. You can’t be out there partying every day, it’s just going to destroy your body.”
In addition to continuing to wrestle in the United States, Carelli has been traveling overseas and had a memorable stint in Japan a few years ago with DDT Pro involving Joey Ryan and Mick Foley, and he went back again this year. Carelli says he initially went over there to do commentary for the Judo World Championships but saw an opportunity to take an extra booking as well and checked off a bucket list item in the process.
Related: Santino Marella Talks Becoming Judo Canada’s First Official Ambassador
“So I took this wrestling match. And you know, I gave them a good deal, I wasn’t looking to gauge anybody. But I guess eventually they realized, ‘We’re getting somebody good for a good price,’ and then when they saw the response from the audience—we had a good match, and they were really nice to me after. They offered me a second show,” Carelli said, “and I did two shows there. It was just nice, I got to wrestle in Korakuen Hall, which I never did before, kind of on my bucket list, you know? I don’t know if they’ll invite me back, we’ll see.
Read More: Santino Marella On His Favorite Career Moment, Wanting The Honk-A-Meter To Continue
