Santino Marella Books Disgraced Marty Scurll For Upcoming Indie Event

Accused of sexual misconduct in 2020, Marty Scurll will work Marella's Battle Arts PRO in August.

by Andy H Murray
Marty Scurll
Twitter, @milanmiracle

Santino Marella has drawn considerable flak for booking former Ring of Honor wrestler Marty Scurll for his Battle Arts PRO promotion later this year.

The ex-WWE star confirmed that Scurll would be part of a 13 August event on Monday evening, uploading a short promo in which the English wrestler claims fans will see a side of him they've never seen before.

Marella's tweet was met with immediate, critical responses (understandable, given the circumstances). The 48-year-old opted to disable replies for anybody not mentioned in the original post (the Battle Arts PRO account alone) soon after.

The Speaking Out movement of June 2020 saw many figures involved in professional wrestling hit with allegations of sexual misconduct, abuse, and more, including high-profile names in WWE, AEW, and beyond. Amongst them was Scurll. Employed by Ring of Honor as a wrestler and creative team member at the time, the former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion was accused of pressuring an intoxicated 16-year-old female (Scurll would've been 26 or 27 at the time) into committing sexual acts following an IPW show in 2015.

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Scurll released two statements on the allegations, saying, essentially, that he believed the encounter was consensual. ROH later pulled the 33-year-old from his position pending an investigation before what was described as a mutually agreed parting of ways was announced in January 2021.

Though no longer being booked by the promotions he was working for prior to the allegations going public, Scurll has since returned to wrestling via its smaller stages. Most recently, he faced Mascara Dorada for Mucha Lucha Atalanta on 26 June.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.