WWE NXT’s Arianna Grace opens up about working with father Santino Marella
Getting to work with her father on-screen is a blessing that Arianna Grace didn’t expect to happen this early in her career.
Grace (Bianca Carelli) signed with WWE in 2022 and has been featured in NXT with her pageant queen character. Her father, former WWE wrestler Santino Marella, is currently with TNA Wrestling as the promotion’s Directer of Authority. They’ve gotten the chance to work together with Grace serving as an on-screen liaison between NXT and TNA. The father-daughter duo even teamed up earlier this year in a loss to Robert Stone & Victoria Crawford in a match for TNA.
While speaking with The Wrestling Classic, Grace opened up about how much working with her father has meant to her. She also expressed pride in how well Marella is able to perform in the ring at 51 years old.
“Awesome. So awesome. So unbelievable. I never thought it was actually going to happen this early in my career, so that was like a surprise blessing,” Grace said. “But just like how I said with [her fiance Channing ‘Stacks’ Lorenzo] here, when I work with him — work already doesn’t feel like work — but it’s like a gift. So the same goes with my dad. Like, seeing my dad at work — it’s not work to begin with because I love my job. But now it’s like, ‘Oh my God. And my dad who is one of my best friends, he’s here too. This is so much fun.’ Like, it is so awesome.
“And I am super proud of him. Because he was out of the ring for a little while, and he crushed it when we had our tag match and his singles match with Robert Stone. And he had a match with Ethan Page on NXT too, and he just did such an unbelievable job. He kept up with the NXT pace. I didn’t know if the old man had it in him, but he had it in him. He did great.”
Grace and Channing Lorenzo got engaged in December 2024 and have been teaming together on NXT house shows as of late.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.