Santino Marella Seemingly Comments On Booking Marty Scurll
On July 11, Anthony Carelli, better known to pro wrestling fans as Santino Marella, announced that Marty Scurll would be appearing at an upcoming Battle Arts Professional Wrestling event. Carelli, who owns the promotion based in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, faced immediate backlash online due to the fact the Scurll was called out during the Speaking Out movement in 2020, accused of sexually assaulting an intoxicated 16-year-old girl in 2015.
Earlier today, Carelli seemingly responded to the backlash in a now-deleted post on Twitter, writing "Everyone deserves a second chance to redeem themselves." The tweet was online for a short time, but it apparently didn't take long for the former WWE Intercontinental Champion to have second thoughts.
Scurll's booking is penciled in for August 13, with Carelli making the announcement on Twitter by stating Scurll would be on the show "in a way you've never seen him before!" That tweet has now also been deleted, rendering Scurll's status for the event unclear.
Following the initial accusations in 2020, Scurll confirmed the encounter with the 16-year-old did take place, but he believed it to be consensual. Nonetheless, major promotions have distanced themselves from him, including AEW, where many expected him to appear due to his previous relationship with the promotion's founders. Despite this, Scurll still remains an active wrestler and has competed 10 times this year, according to Cagematch. His most recent recorded bout was against Mascara Dorada (who competed in WWE as from 2016 to 2021) for Mucha Lucha Atlanta.
Before seemingly having been softly blackballed in the mainstream wrestling industry, Scurll was building his collection of accolades, becoming RevPro World Heavyweight Champion in his native United Kingdom and capturing the PROGRESS World Championship on two separate occasions. He also had success overseas by winning ROH World Television Championship in Ring of Honor, as well as the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship and NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship (alongside AEW EVPs The Young Bucks) while working for NJPW as part of Bullet Club.