- WWE Superstar Santino Marella spoke with GeekChicDaily.com to promote the new line of Mattel WWE figures. Here are a few highlights:
GeekChicDaily: You said you got rid of your unibrow for a wedding. What happened to the fauxhawk?
Santino Marella: Well, you know, I’m trying to be a little more corporate and to be honest, it was exposing some weaknesses I had in my hairline. I have some thinning, male-pattern baldness and I want to cover it. The unibrow will be back in no time, don’t worry.
GCD: What’s the process like of getting your own action figure made?
SM: Sometimes the Mattel people come to where we’re performing Raw, and they’ll do pictures: a 360 profile, then for individual things like tattoos they’ll do close-ups of each individual tattoo and condense it down as accurately as possible. Sometimes they take individual photos of your shoes or kneepads, details of your outfit, then take all this information back and do it together. Then when they get back, that’s when the technology kicks in. That’s when they start making 3-D models and decorating based on the photos.
GCD: If you could do a specific defining moment that’s more elaborate than the regular figure, what would it be?
SM: Hmmm. I would like to see a two-pack with Vladimir Kozlov and the tag-team titles. We deserve that. We were a tag team for one year straight and that would be nice to see.
GCD: But he’s no longer with the company, right?
SM: Well, neither are the Legends…
GCD: You’ve been hilarious as a comedic character, but there’s some feeling that it’s tough for a comedy wrestler to be in the main event. Do you think that’s right, or do you see yourself someday being the champ?
SM: Interesting question; I debate that myself. You do have more longevity and always have a place when you’re the comedic component, but I know I’m developing the skills to become a main-event competitor. My grappling’s better; my conditioning is better. I’m more experienced. When I first started I was basically fresh, like a rookie. So it”s not something you can pick up very quickly. It takes many years. But I’m becoming better and Triple H actually told me that you can still be a comedy person, but you can now put the jokes on the other person instead of yourself. So I can still be funny and be competitive.
GeekChicDaily: You said you got rid of your unibrow for a wedding. What happened to the fauxhawk?
Santino Marella: Well, you know, I’m trying to be a little more corporate and to be honest, it was exposing some weaknesses I had in my hairline. I have some thinning, male-pattern baldness and I want to cover it. The unibrow will be back in no time, don’t worry.
GCD: What’s the process like of getting your own action figure made?
SM: Sometimes the Mattel people come to where we’re performing Raw, and they’ll do pictures: a 360 profile, then for individual things like tattoos they’ll do close-ups of each individual tattoo and condense it down as accurately as possible. Sometimes they take individual photos of your shoes or kneepads, details of your outfit, then take all this information back and do it together. Then when they get back, that’s when the technology kicks in. That’s when they start making 3-D models and decorating based on the photos.
GCD: If you could do a specific defining moment that’s more elaborate than the regular figure, what would it be?
SM: Hmmm. I would like to see a two-pack with Vladimir Kozlov and the tag-team titles. We deserve that. We were a tag team for one year straight and that would be nice to see.
GCD: But he’s no longer with the company, right?
SM: Well, neither are the Legends…
GCD: You’ve been hilarious as a comedic character, but there’s some feeling that it’s tough for a comedy wrestler to be in the main event. Do you think that’s right, or do you see yourself someday being the champ?
SM: Interesting question; I debate that myself. You do have more longevity and always have a place when you’re the comedic component, but I know I’m developing the skills to become a main-event competitor. My grappling’s better; my conditioning is better. I’m more experienced. When I first started I was basically fresh, like a rookie. So it”s not something you can pick up very quickly. It takes many years. But I’m becoming better and Triple H actually told me that you can still be a comedy person, but you can now put the jokes on the other person instead of yourself. So I can still be funny and be competitive.