I will return by September, early September - Santino Marella

Santino Marella in a SmackDown segment with Fandango

WWE Superstar Santino Marella, who is missing from action for quite some time now following a neck injury, talks about his return, his neck injury and more in this latest interview.

His return that he’s pegging for next month: “September, early September. Whether it’s the 2nd or the 9th, I don’t know. I’m hoping it’s the 9th, because it’ll be a homecoming for me, born and raised in Mississauga.

“I would love to hear my music start, and just see the faces of these Torontonians going berzerk. One, because they appreciate the comedy. Two, because there are actually a lot of Italians in Toronto. Plus, I’ll have family and friends in the audience, and that will be a real special moment for me.”

His neck injury and full explanation of why he’s been gone: “My neck was bad in March; I had a procedure done called a facet rhizotomy, where they do these injections, and there’s a little axillary nerve that comes off.

“I basically had several things wrong with my neck; bulging discs, herniated discs, stenosis, degenerating discs, but the one thing that was bugging me at the time was arthritis. Out of all that, arthritis doesn’t even sound cool.

“My neck has been fine basically since that procedure, and I did the whole European tour in April and it didn’t hurt at all. But then when I renegotiated my contract a year ago, I wanted a little bit of time off just to heal my entire body, spend a little time with my family and live a little bit of life.

“When you’re successful and you’re doing well, you’re really five days a week, six days a week. Sometimes you won’t be home for two or three weeks. I missed a lot of things; I missed a lot of birthdays and baptisms and weddings, and all that kind of stuff. I just wanted to be home a little bit. I tell my friends, ‘You know what’s better than being Santino Marella around the world? Being Anthony Carelli in Mississauga.’”