Former WWE Star Pushing For Family Member To Debut On SmackDown

WWE

Former WWE star Santino Marella has pushed for his daughter, NXT’s Arianna Grace, to have her main roster debut on the March 21 SmackDown episode.

Marella is an on-screen authority figure in TNA Wrestling and was recently spotted backstage at WWE Elimination Chamber in Toronto.

The former WWE star also appeared at NXT Vengeance Day in February 2025 and on screen when NXT rolled into Cincinnati later that month.

With Arianna Grace a firm fixture on NXT, Marella discussed conversations with his daughter ahead of WWE SmackDown in Bologna, Italy.

WWE SmackDown heads to Bologna on March 21, 2025, and Marella noted that he told Grace to push for a main roster debut on SmackDown in Italy, telling Maurizio Merluzzo:

“My daughter wrestles in NXT. I believe this year she’ll be called up (to the main roster) so I messaged her yesterday and said ‘Hey, see if you can debut in Bologna.’

“It would be historical. I don’t know if she (will), but that would be amazing.”

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While Arianna Grace grew up in Canada, her family is of Italian descent, something which Santino Marella pushed with his gimmick in WWE.

Grace signed with WWE in March 2022, debuting on the April 29 episode of NXT Level Up that year.

Her time in WWE hasn’t been without issue, suffering a torn ACL in late 2022 and another injury in late 2024.

February 7, 2025 would mark her return to the ring after a seven-month absence, losing to Adriana Rizzo at a WWE NXT live event.

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• wwe
• Smackdown
• santino marella
• tna wrestling
• Arianna Grace
• nxt

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