James Maritato (born March 12, 1972) is an American professional wrestler, best known for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and WWE (WWE) under the ring names Little Guido and Nunzio.[Lents, H.M., Biographical Dictionary of Professional Wrestling (2nd edition), McFarland, 2003, p138] A high-school football player and amateur wrestler, he trained under Billy Robinson, making his professional debut in the early nineties. He joined Eastern Championship Wrestling initially as an enhancement talent, as well as competing in the shoot style UWF International promotion.
After ECW closed its doors, Maritato worked on the independent circuit before he was signed to a contract by WWE in 2002. There he was part of the promotion’s cruiserweight division until its disbandment in 2007, as well as a new version of the F.B.I Stable. He would take part in the ECW One Night Stand events as well as the relaunch of the franchise as a third brand before leaving WWE and returning to the independent circuit.
Early life
While attending Nanuet Senior High School (located in Rockland County, New York), Maritato competed in football (as part of the school's 1989 team that went undefeated and unscored upon)
and wrestling.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1991–1992)
Maritato was trained as a professional wrestler by
Billy Robinson. He debuted in 1991, facing Parsippany Smith Fields in his first match.
He competed for the Amarillo, Texas-based USWF promotion under the name James Stone.
Eastern Championship Wrestling (1992–1994)
Maritato joined Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) under the
ring name "Damien Stone" on July 14, 1992, where he lost to
Tommy Cairo. Over the next two years, he wrestled intermittently with ECW as a jobber. He also wrestled for International World Class Championship Wrestling and other promotions in the Northeastern United States.
UWF International (1995–1996)
Maritato took some time off from ECW in 1995 and went to Japan to compete in the
Shoot wrestling UWF International promotion.
Extreme Championship Wrestling (1996–2001)
Maritato returned to Eastern Championship Wrestling - by now known as Extreme Championship Wrestling - at the Big Ass Extreme Bash in March 1996. At Massacre on Queens Boulevard in April 1996, "The Italian Stallion" J.T. Smith announced that "Damien Stone" was in fact his
Sicilians cousin, "Little Guido". Smith and Little Guido formed the comedy stable Full Blooded Italians (F.B.I.), which grew to include multiple other members.
During 1999, he became a "serious wrestler", although still accompanied by Sal E. Graziano and proclaiming himself to be an F.B.I. member (though only the two of them were left). After his turn he was involved in some intense singles matches until late 2000, when he formed a tag team with Tony Mamaluke.
Independent circuit (2001–2002)
When ECW closed, Maritato wrestled for several independent promotions, mostly in the New York Tri-State area; he often teamed with former partner Tony Mamaluke. They had a notable run in Ring of Honor before Maritato was signed by
WWE in 2002.
World Wrestling Entertainment/ WWE (2002–2008, 2010–2011, 2024)
Alliance with Jamie Noble; Full Blooded Italians (2002–2004)
Maritato was introduced on WWE television as
Nunzio (a possible reference to the
American Mafia/
bodyguard characters Guido and Nunzio in the
MythAdventures series of books by
Robert Asprin).
As the
Kayfabe heel cousin of
Jamie Noble, he attacked
Crash Holly during a match with Noble on the December 12, 2002 edition of
WWE SmackDown.
Nunzio began a feud with Holly after this, defeating him on several occasions before going on to face the likes of
Yoshihiro Tajiri,
Shannon Moore, and
Chuck Palumbo.
The team and cousin storyline of Nunzio and Noble soon faded. Nunzio reformed the Full Blooded Italians, this time with Jon Hugger and Chuck Palumbo, but the team found little success.
Cruiserweight Champion; alliance with Vito (2005–2006)
In 2005, Maritato returned to his Little Guido persona for one night; he reunited with the original Full Blooded Italians to take on
Super Crazy and
Yoshihiro Tajiri in a three-way match at the ECW reunion show One Night Stand.
As Nunzio, he continued to perform on SmackDown! B-show WWE Velocity as both a fan favorite and a villain, forming a short-lived tag team with Shoichi Funaki. On the August 6 (taped on August 2) edition of Velocity, Nunzio won the Cruiserweight Championship by defeating Paul London after a new villainous wrestler, Vito LoGrasso, made his debut by giving Nunzio a blackjack, which he used to knock London out.
The pair began feuding with The Mexicools and at No Mercy, Mexicool member Juventud defeated Nunzio with a Juvi Driver to take the Cruiserweight Championship.
Nunzio and Vito would both briefly turn into fan favorites by briefly engaging in a feud against Gregory Helms. Vito and Nunzio would quickly go back to being villains, however, due to Vito's new godparent gimmick.
In late-May 2006, Nunzio's partnership with Vito began to crumble after it was revealed that, in storyline, Vito enjoyed cross-dressing, which made Nunzio feel betrayed and embarrassed.
Full Blooded Italians reunion; departure (2006–2008)
In June when the ECW brand was launched, Nunzio left SmackDown to join other "ECW originals" on
ECW, retaking his Little Guido name in the process.
F.B.I. was revived again, this time with Little Guido as a face once again, alongside
Tony Mamaluke and Trinity and for a short while,
Big Guido.
The F.B.I. were used for tag matches on
ECW to either take on debuting tag teams or facing another tag team when a tag match was needed.
At December to Dismember, they took on
Elijah Burke and
Sylvester Terkay in a losing effort.
His partner Tony Mamaluke was released on January 18, leaving Guido and Trinity alone to carry on the stable.
After Mamaluke's release, Little Guido vanished from television (he only appeared once on ECW on Sci Fi with the Little Guido name). After his hiatus, he later returned on the April 17, 2007 episode (in Italy, where he was well received by fans) using his old Nunzio name again but without Trinity, who had been released in June.
In 2008, Nunzio returned on January 15, in a losing effort against Shelton Benjamin,
On August 8, 2008, Nunzio was released from his WWE contract.
Referee (2010–2011)
Maritato appeared at a house show for WWE Raw, at Madison Square Garden on December 26, 2010, as a referee when the majority of referees could not make it to the arena due to blizzards and gale-force winds; this position expanded to televised events on February 1. On September 29, 2011, Maritato announced that he was no longer working for WWE.
NXT appearance (2024)
At
NXT 2300 on November 6, 2024, Maritato, as Nunzio, returned to WWE to challenge Tony D'Angelo for the NXT North American Championship, where Nunzio lost the match.
[ Former Cruiserweight Champion Appears On NXT, Will Wrestle First WWE Match In 16 Years WrestlingInc]
Return to the independent circuit (2008–present)
Maritato wrestled for Jersey All Pro Wrestling on September 19.
On November 15, he won the JAPW Tag Team Championship with Tracy Smothers.
On January 16, 2009, Maritato was inducted into the ECPW Hall of Fame.
In February 2009, it was announced that Maritato would be a trainer for the "Bodyslam U" professional wrestling school in New Jersey, while still competing on the independent circuit.
At House of Hardcore 7, Maritato teamed up with Team Tremendous (Bil Carr and Dan Barry) to take on Anthony Greene, Ben Ortiz, and Vik Dalishus in a winning effort.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling / Impact Wrestling (2010, 2022)
On August 8, 2010, Maritato took part in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's ECW reunion show, Hardcore Justice, where he,
Tony Mamaluke (billed as Tony Luke) and
Tracy Smothers defeated
Kid Kash,
Simon Diamond and
Johnny Swinger in a six-man tag team match.
On the following edition of
TNA Impact!, the ECW alumni, known collectively as
ECW Originals, were assaulted by A.J. Styles,
Frankie Kazarian,
Robert Roode,
James Storm, Douglas Williams and Matt Morgan of
Ric Flair's stable, who thought they didn't deserve to be in TNA.
The following week TNA president Dixie Carter gave each member of EV 2.0 TNA contracts in order for them to settle their score with .
[On the August 26 edition of TNA Impact, James Maritato wrestled in a tag team match with Tony Luke, in a loss to Robert Roode and James Storm] On the August 26 edition of
Impact! Guido and Luke were squashed by Roode and Storm in a tag team match.
The match ended F.B.I.'s association with TNA. Maritato was announced as a part of the new Total Nonstop Action
India based project Ring Ka King working under the name Tony Broadway teaming with Joey Hollywood.
However Ring Ka King only lasted one season and ended the same year.
In 2022, Maritato made an appearance for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, then known as Impact Wrestling, on the April 21 episode of Impact!, challenging Matt Cardona for the Impact Digital Media Championship, where he was unsuccessful.
Other media
On March 6, 2006, Maritato was seen supporting his brother on the
NBC game show Deal or No Deal in which he won $25,000. In 1996 Maritato competed in a mixed martial arts fight in Texas against Steve Nelson, who was also his past opponent in UWFi. The fight appears on Nelson's official MMA record as a win. Maritato competed under the name James Stone, which he also wrestled under during its stint in UWFi.
Championships and accomplishments
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Chaotic Wrestling
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CW Tag Team Championship (1 time)
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East Coast Pro Wrestling
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ECPW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
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ECPW Hall of Fame (Class of 2009)
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Extreme Championship Wrestling
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Impact Championship Wrestling
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ICW Hip Swivel Towel Championship (1 time)
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Jersey All Pro Wrestling
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Pro Wrestling Illustrated
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Ranked No. 79 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2003
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USA Pro Wrestling
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USA Pro Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Rahul Kay (1) and Kid Kruel (1)
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USA Pro United States Championship (1 time)
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World Wrestling Entertainment
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WWE Cruiserweight Championship (2 times)
External links
