Santino Marella has shed light on how he was able to use his WWE ring name during his TNA run.

At TNA Hard To Kill 2023, fans were surprised when Santino Marella made his debut as the company’s new Director of Authority. Even more surprising to many was that he was allowed to use the Santino Marella name, a moniker closely associated with his WWE career.

During a recent appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Marella opened up about the unique series of events that made it possible. According to him, the name’s availability was discovered during a period of transition within WWE.

“So that was actually almost bigger news than me appearing on TNA, was the fact that I was Santino Marella,” he said. “So in 2021, I imagine the COVID confusion or whatever, there were people getting fired and hired, and it seemed like it was team Hunter and team Vince, and they were changing regimes or whatever. Somebody did not renew the trademark.”

Marella went on to explain that TNA’s Scott D’Amore routinely checks on WWE trademarks when signing former talent, and that is when the discovery was made.

“Scott D’Amore, as a habit, because if he is getting a former WWE guy, he kind of checks the trademark to see if they are available, because he has to get creative and come up with a name. If it is not Fandango, it is Dango or something that is legally not going to be too close to the intellectual property. He checked, and all of a sudden he goes, damn, Santino Marella is available. So he bought it.”

However, ownership of the name did not come without some pushback.

“It is not as simple as you can just buy it and it is yours. There is a case that they created the character, they developed the character. It is still on their library. I mean, there is still tons of Santino stuff in the library. But when it is library use, I think it is not considered like current use, because it is from a library. So they sent an email or a phone call to Scott, and they say, ‘Yeah, you are using our intellectual property.’ And Scott’s like, ‘Actually, I own the trademark.’ So they are like, ‘Let me get back to you.’”

Eventually, WWE filed for an extension on their right to appeal the situation. Once Scott D’Amore departed TNA, new executive Ariel Shnerer opted to return the trademark to WWE, reportedly to maintain a good relationship.

“Then they filed an extension to the time they can appeal it, and then when Scott was no longer with TNA, Ariel [Shnerer], in hopes of having a good relationship with WWE, kind of just gave it back to them. So they own it, but I am not sure if a part of the deal was we will give it back to you but can we use it? And we have been using it.”