Spencer Love

Being a second-generation star in professional wrestling comes with it’s benefits and it’s detriments. In the case of Bianca Carelli, however, the former outweighs the latter by a wide margin. The daughter of former WWE superstar Santino Marella, Carelli has not only had the opportunity to travel with her father throughout his career but train with him at Ontario’s Battle Arts Academy.

We chatted about her father’s training as part of our recent chat for Love Wrestling, as well as Santino’s recent tweet directed at the WWE’s top brass drawing attention to his daughter.

“What you feel differentiates him as a trainer?” I asked Carelli early in our interview. “I feel he might be, and because he’s done so well with a lot of the quote-unquote comedy stuff before, maybe he does get overlooked [for] just how good he was as a pro wrestler. You don’t win the Intercontinental Championship on your debut if you aren’t! Is he may be under appreciated in your experience. But then, again, what what makes him a great trainer? Is that all that stuff you said before, something different?”

“That’s cool. I like that question,” the second-generation star began. “Obviously my dad’s always been hilarious. He’s a funny guy. And so, for him to have a character that really shows off how funny he really is, I really appreciate that. That’s what makes him kind of different, maybe, then other wrestlers is that he’s great on the mic, he’s charismatic, he’s fun. As much as Santino’s goofy, it’s really similar to my actual dad, Anthony. Anthony and Santino are very similar.”

“But,” she pivoted, “at the same time, my dad’s been an athlete his whole life. Wrestling, Judo football, he was on the Canadian national team. He’s gone across the world with judo. He’s an athlete, and he’s a fast learner. He trained under Rip, right, so he has great psychology. When he was at OVW, his character was actually a Russian guy, and his fight style was more like Sambo, badass, and he was great at that, too. That’s one thing that’s really good about my dad is he’s versatile, and he’s naturally a talented athlete.”

“I mean, I wouldn’t say that he didn’t – like, maybe his wrestling style was overlooked,” she concluded. “Maybe by fans who have an untrained eye and can’t actually realize how fluid he is. How awesome he is. His arm drags, his hip tosses, everything. Even the way he takes moves is so well executed. He’s well trained, he’s a good athlete and I’m happy to learn from him. Not just as his daughter, but just in terms of the knowledge that he offers as a coach. It’s unbelievable knowledge.”

A Star in the Making

Of course, it’s not just in the training aspect that Marella has attempted to help his daughter. Two weeks ago, Marella tweeted a photo of his daughter directed at WWE management highlighting her abilities both inside-and-outside of the squared circle.

“When your dad’s tweeting out stuff at this point, saying, ‘hey, WWE, hey, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon. This is my daughter, she’s a f**king star,’ pay some attention at this point, right?

‘” I asked her near the conclusion of our interview.

“It’s gotta mean a lot when he’s saying that sort of stuff because again, it’s assuming on my end, but he wouldn’t be sending that out unless he believed it, right? What’s it mean to you to see him, to use the wrestling phrase, going out and putting you over like that?”

Carelli smiled.

“You know what, it did mean a lot. It really, really did,” she responded. “When I first saw it, I was like any kid when their parent is like, ‘this is my child.’ You’re gonna be like, ‘Mom! Dad.’ So, at first, I was like, ‘oh, my God, dad!’ And then, I was like, ‘awe, dad!’ He is a very emotional guy, my dad, but he will not often say how he feels, you know?

“It’s getting better, but you’re still tending towards the right side of things,” I agreed.

“Yeah. So, to see that, I was like, ‘okay, he’s proud of me.’ It was a nice moment to realize [that] wow, my dad has seen my growth. Of course, he has, and he’s seen the work I put in, and he’s proud of me. I kind of just felt like, ‘yeah, I’m a good kid. Good job!’ So it was nice, and like you said, he is almost – I wouldn’t say taking a chance, but kind of! He’s taking a chance on me like, ‘this is my daughter, here she is. I endorse her.’ I already don’t want to disappoint anyone, especially myself. But, that does kind of put something on me to say, you know what, here we go. He thinks I’m ready. I think I’m ready. Let’s do this full force. That’s why I woke up at 6 am on my Saturday, the weekends don’t exist anymore!”

Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any of the above transcriptions.

In 2019, the WWE held it’s first-ever Canadian tryout in Toronto, hosting 30 of the top wrestlers from above the 49th parallel over Summerslam weekend including Kc Spinelli, Michael Richard Blais, and more.

One notable attendee was Bianca Carelli, the daughter of Santino Marella and the current Battle Arts Academy Women’s Champion. Despite having only wrestled for just over a year at that point, Carelli’s confidence in both her mic skills and work ethic gave her hope that she would stand out among even the best of the best Canada had to offer.

“I think at that point I’d had 13 matches,” Carelli commented when I asked about her experience at the tryout, “so I obviously – I was extremely green. But, at the same time, I was working out every single day, I was preparing for this. I was eating very clean. I’d been trying different diets for a year. My mind was 100% ‘let’s go, let’s do this.’ And I knew, okay, maybe I’m not gonna be the best wrestler. But you know what? I’m good on the mic and I’m willing to put in the work.”

“For me, I was kind of hoping they would see ‘oh, wow, she works really hard. She doesn’t give up.’ I know a lot of the stuff that they do in tryouts is meant to wear you down to see mentally how strong you are. That was my biggest thing was I wanted to show my mental strength, I wanted to show my toughness, that you make me run until I throw up, and I will throw up, and I will keep on running.

And then, I will throw up again and I will keep on running. You’re gonna have to call an ambulance before I stopped running. That was what I wanted to show is that that animal inside.”

“That fire?” I interjected.

“Yeah, exactly,” Carelli agreed. “But, on top of that, holy, just getting there!

I’ll never forget this moment. Once we arrived and we got led into the room where the tryout was gonna take place. I was like, ‘wow, this so cool!’ I was just taken aback. It was breathtaking. I don’t know if it was meant to be a little intimidating, but it definitely was.”

“There was a big projector screen, and they showed us this video of all these clips about the PC and WWE. It was like, ‘wow, I want to be there. More than anything, I want to be there.’ It was cool, too, because a lot of the wrestlers that were there, you see them at shows, they’re cool, they’re tough, they kick butt, they’re athletes, and even they were all like ‘phew!’ Everyone was in the same mode. Everyone was nervous and wanting it, and wanting to show their best.”

Future Opportunities

So, is the WWE still the goal for the 2nd-generation star?

“Oh, man, I just want another opportunity to show how much I’ve grown,” Carelli commented on her future goals. “Because of COVID, maybe my wrestling experience, I haven’t been able to grow it as much as I was going to before COVID hit. I had so many bookings that just got thrown out the window because of COVID. I think I’ve had – well, I know I’ve had, because I keep track.

I’ve had 32 matches now. So that’s three times the experience I think – math is not my strong point – of when I was at the tryout. Roughly three times.”

“I feel like now I would definitely do better than that component. Mic skills [are] probably the same. That fire is still burning.”

Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any of the above quotes.

The pressures of being a second-generation wrestling star are certainly plenty, but coming from a family inside the industry certainly comes with a few terrific stories, too.

That’s certainly the case for Bianca Carelli. The daughter of famed WWE star Santino Marella, Carelli’s upbringing allowed her the opportunity to accompany her father to a number of his professional wrestling bookings and training sessions, including one that WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix recently tweeted out detailing her memory of a 10-year-old Carelli cutting a promo at an OVW training session.

Carelli and I recently chatted about the tweet and her memories of the promo as part of our upcoming interview for Love Wrestling.

“So first of all, Beth is a super sweetheart,” she began at the mention of Phoenix’s tweet. “She’s like the nicest ever. She was at OVW; a lot of people that have had careers or still have careers with WWE were at OVW when my dad was there. Of course, I’m little and all I know is that my dad’s in Kentucky, he’s wrestling, and he wants me to see what it’s like. So, there I go with my Hello Kitty backpack, my Nintendo DS, and I’m sitting in the stands. I just watched the wrestling classes, which were like Rip Rogers just like yelling at everyone. Totally awesome.”

“One day they’re doing promos,” Carelli continued. “My Dad, like, I can’t fully remember this, but I remember watching them do promos and I remember my dad saying ‘do you want to do one?’ I think they were practicing, the next day they were gonna tape. So I was like, ‘okay, sure!’ I always did like school plays and the speech contests and I liked talking in front of the class or answering questions. I was kind of like a nerd, Teacher’s pet, nerd kind of girl. My pencils were always really sharp so they were ready to write with. Anyways, I came up with the promo and then I cut the promo. They actually – my dad posted a picture of it, I think we actually have the footage of it.

I don’t really know where it is.”

The Battle Arts Academy Women’s Champion paused before continuing.

“But, I remember it was actually like a heel promo.

I remember it! It was like, ‘everyone says the OVW Divas are the best. That they’re the most beautiful, and they’re the most talented,’ and then I think I said something like, ‘well, they must be blind!’ I was so little. Then, I remember saying something along the lines of like, ‘you know, you guys, you’re like cassette tapes,’ that’s how old back we’re going. I was like, ‘you guys are cassette tapes, I’m an iPod Nano,’ and that’s back when the iPod Nano was the thing!'”

I had to chuckle at the comment.

“Beautiful. Oh my god. Well played!” I exclaimed.

“Yeah, I guess I got them,” the 2nd-generation star grinned.

“Burn!”

“That was my big line, I guess ‘I’m an iPod Nano and blah, blah, blah.'”

“That’s all I really remember from it,” concluded Carelli. “But, I remember all the girls, especially Alicia Fox was like, ‘oh my god, that was awesome!’ I was just a little kid and I felt cool. I felt good about it.”

Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any of the above quotes used.

The revitalization of the Ring of Honor women’s division has certainly been a highlight of the wrestling world since the calendar turned to 2021. While it’s not for a lack of effort on the part of ROH – last year’s women’s tournament was a casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic – this year has certainly been the biggest step forward for the division in quite some time. A large part of that has been the presence of Maria Kanellis-Bennett, who not only was recently added to the Ring of Honor board of directors but has been a major influence on the future direction of the women’s division itself. Whether it be announcing the women’s tournament itself or her involvement on the recruiting side of the promotion, Kanellis-Bennett has already made a major tangible impact on the division both on-and-off screen.

One name often mentioned when talking about potential additions to ROH’s women’s division is that of LuFisto. While the Canadian wrestling icon made an appearance for Ring of Honor in 2009 against Daizee Haze, the over 20-year veteran has never been under any sort of full-time deal with the promotion.

However, after hearing Kanellis-Bennett speak highly of LuFisto in previous interviews, I had to take the opportunity to ask her about the potential of the Canadian icon making a return to ROH in the near future.

LuFisto in ROH?

“One other individual that I do specifically have to ask on – and I’m certain you won’t be able to tell me either way – but you know, every Monday I noticed that LuFisto is out there tweeting about #watchROH,” I asked coyly. “I also know that you’ve talked very, very highly of her in the past. So maybe again, take me through her influence on women’s wrestling and yourself specifically.”

“Is there maybe some room for a good Canadian in the ROH women’s division?”

“All right, this is another COVID thing. COVID has put a lot of dampers on a lot of things,” admitted Kanellis-Bennett. “So I don’t know. That is the honest to goodness truth. I just don’t know.”

“Do I think that she’s an asset to women’s wrestling? Of course I do,” continued the First Lady of Professional Wrestling. “I think that she is one of the best-kept secrets in women’s wrestling ever. She is highly talented, been in the ring with so many talented women, helped the careers of so many women and I think now is a fantastic opportunity for her to shine.

Can that be possible? I don’t know. If I could have like a magic wand and like, be like, ‘and you’re in the tournament!’ Yes, that’s great. Maybe we should call Harry Potter!”

“But, I was gonna say, it turns into a lot more than a 16-person bracket at that point, too,” I commented on the possibility of international appearances in the tournament.

Kanellis agreed. “I mean, I would love to have 32, but that’s not going to happen,” she stated.

“If I had all the international girls, I’d be pulling from all over. But, I can’t. I don’t know. So yeah. We’ll just leave it as I don’t know. I’m trying really hard to get [them] but I can’t fight the government so it is what it is.”

Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any of the above quotations.

If you’re a fan of Ring of Honor, chances are you’re a fan of Quinn McKay.

As simple as the statement may be, it’s far from a false one. Since joining Ring of Honor as a backstage correspondent nearly two years ago, McKay has consistently been one of the most entertaining parts of the promotion’s weekly programming. Her bubbly personality and over-the-top enthusiasm has earned her recognition as one of the best and brightest personalities in wrestling today, and rightfully so.

However, before there was Quinn McKay, backstage reporter, there was the wrestler. In fact, McKay was the first female ever signed to a Ring of Honor developmental contract following her training at the ROH dojo with current PURE Champion Jonathan Gresham. “Simply put, she was a natural athlete with a unique look and a positive demeanor,” Gresham has said. “To me, that’s something valuable and needed in any company.”

Despite rave reviews from a number of Ring of Honor’s top stars, McKay hasn’t had the opportunity to showcase herself inside an ROH ring – yet. Tonight, she’ll make her official in-ring debut with Ring of Honor, facing off against seven-time Women’s Champion Angelina Love in a qualifying match for this summer’s upcoming women’s tournament.

With all of that to consider, I had to ask Ring of Honor Board of Directors member Maria Kanellis-Bennett about McKay, and what she believes is going to differentiate her in a tournament with some of wrestling’s top female stars.

“Quinn McKay. Talk to me a little bit about her! You mentioned, obviously, [having] the best high flyers, the best mat wrestlers, the best everything, including obviously the best backstage interviewer in the game today. She’s a bit of a wild card as far as it goes. I know she’s wrestled before [and] done a great job of that. But, this will be her official Ring of Honor in-ring debut. What do you think she’s going to bring? And then, just take me through the experience of working with her backstage.”

Kanellis smiled as she began her answer.

“One thing that Quinn said to me that really has stuck with me is when she says she’s going to do something, she does it, and she does it 200%,” Kanellis stated. “You can see that with how she is in her backstage interviewing. You can see it when she’s training, when she’s been preparing for this match. Her devotion to the craft, the way that she studies it, while she’s in the gym. Her integrity is going to be all the difference in the world.

Sometimes that pure will will make up for years of experience. That is what I really admire about her. That’s what makes her stand out.”

Backstage

As a former backstage interviewer herself, Kanellis has a unique perspective on the intricacies of the job and the talent required to be successful at it. It’s something that comes naturally to McKay, says Kanellis, praising her eye for detail as a backstage personality.

“Working with her backstage as an interviewer? It’s like I’m going back to school in a lot of ways. She’s such a natural, she’s quick-witted, and she’s highly intelligent. She pays attention to what everybody is doing and where they want to go, whether it be their character, or what titles they want to go after.

She can keep all that information in her very tiny shell. So I admire that. I definitely admire that.”

Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any of the above quotations.

On February 24th, 2021, the wrestling world was devastated by the sudden passing of Joseph Hudson, known to wrestling fans as Josephus and The Question Mark.

Not only was The Question Mark beloved by fans, of the National Wrestling Alliance, but an integral part of pretty well every aspect of the organization.

World’s Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis was kind enough to give me his thoughts on Mr. Hudson and his meaning to the National Wrestling Alliance when we recently spoke for Love Wrestling.

“Joseph Hudson, as a human being was a really, you know, he was a special guy,” Aldis began. “Very unique, very eccentric, lovably odd guy. He lived very close to me. We’re both in the Nashville area. He’s been to the house. The last time I saw him before he passed away, we were hanging out in my kitchen, just sort of chatting it up about whatever.”

“He wore a lot of hats here,” continued the Real World’s Champion. “[Joseph] played a big part in getting us where we were, and he was one of those guys that – he would have always had a place here. He would have been – with Billy and their relationship, they had a long-established relationship long before I was in the picture. He’s one of those guys like I said, that would have had a job for life with the NWA. He would have been – because he did so many different things. He produced, he edited, he helped with logistics, merchandise, all sorts of stuff. [He’s missed] not just on a personal level, obviously, because he was just a really great human being and a very dedicated father, which to me, was obviously admirable and something I can relate to. He’s also missed greatly on a professional level.”

A Continued Influence

There’s no denying that professional wrestling can be a rather ruthless business. In an industry in which many are looking to push their way to the top, sometimes, friendships can fall by the wayside in an individual’s own self-interests.

That simply wasn’t the case when it came to The Question Mark, Aldis commented to me, and that unselfish mentality has been passed down through the entirety of the NWA locker room.

“There were a lot of us who have had opportunities to be involved in some special stuff, right? Like, for me, obviously [there’s] All In, and then my big marquee matches with guys like Sting, or AJ Styles, or my moments at Wembley Arena or places like that for TNA. And obviously, guys who have been in WWE have been able to wrestle Madison Square Garden, or hold a championship, or be in the ring with Shawn Michaels or, you know, something like that. Joseph, he loved the business, he was a student of the business, but he’d never had any moment where he really felt like ‘I’m special in this.’ The Question Mark was that thing! It was just a kind of ‘hey, what about this,’ sort of situation, and he just grabbed it and ran with it.”

“I remember once he walked out – I think they might have shared this clip on social media,” reminisced Aldis. “He came out for a match with Ricky Starks, and this place just exploded. This was like, I don’t know, four or five shows in and we start going. I remember standing there with Billy, and we looked at each other, and Billy just kind of – you could feel it meant a lot to Billy because it was like, he didn’t want to feel like it was nepotism.

He didn’t want to feel like ‘oh, I’m putting my guy [there] because he’s a good friend. I’m sure he was conscious of that.”

“But then, it was so rewarding for him also to see him get this massive reaction,” Aldis smiled. “We’re sort of look at each other going ‘what’s happening? I just said ‘this is unbelievable. This is so great.’ When something like that happens organically – and he was a big part of the culture that’s established in the NWA dressing room backstage. He plays a major part in that because there was no resentment or animosity or jealousy for any of the guys when that happened. We’re all going like ‘this guy is the most over guy on the show!

‘ We were all going ‘this is crazy, but it’s so great. We love it,’ because it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.”

Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any of the above quotes and transcriptions.