Former WWE Favourite Is IMPACT Wrestling's New Director Of Authority

This former Intercontinental Champion joins IMPACT Wrestling.

by Andrew Pollard
Santino Marella IMPACT Wrestling Hard to Kill 2023
IMPACT Wrestling

Santino Marella is IMPACT Wrestling's new Director of Authority.

The Milan Miracle made his IMPACT bow at this weekend's Hard to Kill PPV, appearing after Moose had defeated Joe Hendy for the Digital Media Title. With that win having come after Moose hit a low blow, Marella appeared on stage to restart the match - with Hendry eventually getting the victory and retaining the gold.

The real-life Anthony Carelli is able to use the Santino Marella name due to WWE having abandoned that particular trademark several years ago. Thus, Carelli was in full Santino mode for his IMPACT debut.

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PWInsider.com notes how the former Intercontinental Champion has signed a full-time deal with the Anthem promotion.

For those who may have missed it, IMPACT had announced how a new Director of Authority would be revealed at Hard to Kill, with previous DOA Scott D'Amore attacked by Bully Ray last week.

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Of course, Santino made a name for himself in WWE, with the nowadays 48-year-old having been with the market leader from 2005 through until 2016. Marella has since made a handful of sporadic appearances for WWE, including entering the 2020 women's Royal Rumble match.

Interestingly, Carelli did previously appear for IMPACT back in 2018, where his Battle Arts training facility was featured.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.