Former WWE comedy favourite Santino Marella recently discussed the origins of his long-standing beef with Jim Cornette.
The two-time WWE Intercontinental Champion made a guest appearance on legendary WWE referee Mike Chioda’s Monday Mailbag podcast. During the interview, the topic of the ever-controversial Cornette came up.
During his time in OVW, the real-life Anthony Carelli and his daughter were watching on as The Boogeyman made his entrance. Amused by his daughter’s horrified reaction to the worm-eating menace, ‘The Milan Miracle’ had a good laugh, much to Cornette’s chagrin.
Backstage, the tennis racket enthusiast gave Santino Marella a piece of his mind:
“I come back and [Cornette’s] like, ‘You think this is a joke?’ And he came up and gave me the little paint brushes [slaps] and I just kind of stopped and looked at him and I’m like, with my eyes, trying to make it very clear that you are very lucky that we’re in this situation right now, and I’m not going to say anything.”
While Cornette’s time in OVW was immensely successful and turned out WWE icons like John Cena and Brock Lesnar, he was notorious for his aggressive management style.
For Santino Marella, this was made plain as day purportedly because Cornette assumed he was laughing at The Boogeyman’s make-up melting under the stage lights.
In 2014, the tiff took a dark turn when Santino Marella was preparing to undergo major neck surgery. Cornette reportedly got a hold of the former WWE Tag Team Champion’s phone number and gave him another piece of his mind:
“I [Marella] check my message, and it’s ‘Santino, this is Jim Cornette. I heard you had neck surgery and you can’t wrestle anymore! Well I’m here to tell you that I couldn’t be happier that you can’t wrestle anymore cause you never deserved to be in there,’ and I’m literally with the bandage on, and I’m thinking, ‘This guy’s leaving a message like that when I just came out of surgery, what a piece of sh*t, like a genuine piece of sh*t.’”
To top it all off, the pair bumped heads again at a 2017 convention in Detroit. Initially offering a handshake, Marella grew frustrated with Cornette‘s continued insults. Before the intensifying altercation could get any more severe, both men were sent packing from the premises.
Needless to say, Santino Marella is far from the first professional wrestler to have had major heat with Jim Cornette.