A Thread About Carlito, Now That's Cool

[The Brain]

When I first joined this forum a little over four years ago not many people here liked Carlito. He was kind of a whipping boy and it seemed fashionable to trash him. This month marks three years since Carlito was released from WWE so I thought it would be nice to look back on his WWE career.

I remember the vignettes that aired before Carlito’s debut in 2004. He obviously reminded many people of Razor Ramon which some looked at as a strike against him from the start. They weren’t interested in seeing a Razor knockoff. At first I assumed Carlito would be just another new low card guy on Smackdown like Mark Jindrak or Kenzo Suzuki. Then it was time for Carlito to debut and he did something that shocked a lot of people. In his first match Carlito defeated John Cena for the US title just as Cena’s star was on the rise. He got my attention and I quickly accepted Carlito. Unfortunately Carlito’s momentum was slowed after he suffered a shoulder injury soon after his debut which kept him sidelined for months. During the spring of 2005 he got his own talk show, Carlito’s Cabana and was eventually drafted to Raw. He won the IC title in his first match on Raw against Shelton Benjamin. Carlito then formed a brief alliance with Chris Jericho and renewed his rivalry with John Cena. Things were looking good for Carlito.

At Unforgiven Carlito lost the IC title to Ric Flair and things started to slow down. He spent the next four years bouncing from heel to face, from singles to tags, and going through stretches where he wasn’t even featured on television at all. His once promising career had definitely fizzled. There were times when it seemed WWE was ready to get behind him again but for whatever reason that never seemed to last long. By the time he left WWE in 2010 Carlito was little more than an afterthought.

I thought Carlito could have achieved a lot more in WWE. He had a good look, tremendous athleticism, and most importantly a ton of natural charisma. As the son of the legendary Carlos Colon, Carlito grew up in the wrestling business and he looked completely comfortable in the ring in front of large crowds. Despite being a mid card heel Carlito was a very marketable character. He had a variety of tee shirts, a wig, a beach towel, and other items at the souvenir stands. I can’t give specific numbers as to how those items sold but I remember seeing fans on tv in Carlito merchandise all the time around 2005. He took something as basic as an apple and turned it into a popular prop. Also I don’t think Carlito showed us anything near his athletic capabilities while in WWE. I’m not saying Carlito should have been world champion or even a consistent main eventer. I don think he should have had a spot on the upper mid card and could have been a guy that main eventers worked with between feuds with other main eventers.

What do you think? Given his charisma, marketability, and athleticism do you think Carlito could have done better in WWE? I’ve heard stories about laziness and a bad attitude. I can’t say for sure if those are true but if so I guess he has only himself to blame. I just can’t help but look at Carlito as a missed opportunity.

 

[DX Mols]

Carlito had potential, but he turned into a one trick pony. I still laugh at his catchphrase "I spit in the face of people who don't want to be cool" but ultimately he turned out to be just another stiff.

Mark Jindrak's brief stint in the WWE (when he was with Piper) interested me more then anything Fat Carlito ever did.

Actually, that's not true...it was hilarious when Miz and Morrison wore butt faces to mock the Colons...but if I recall they didn't even make the final card for that 'Mania.

Hopefully Primo and Epico soon follow Carlito's lead to Future Endeavorland.

 

[ABMorales787]

Carlito certainly has the tools to be a big name in bigger leagues. His father has pretty much monopolized wrestling in the Caribbean after making it popular. But of course when you have such resources like a promoter for a father and a company that runs on your last name, it shouldn't be a surprise that some with such gifts would just ride on that and not bother with much else. It's saddening too because of the market he appeals to. It's because of him Smackdown began airing locally and eventually they were able to get by without him. House shows in PR also became Smackdown exclusive because he was there and when he jumped to Raw, so did the shows that came here. He has no one to blame but himself.

Mark Jindrak's brief stint in the WWE (when he was with Piper) interested me more then anything Fat Carlito ever did.

I'm assuming you mean Sean O'Haire because Mark Jindrak never interacted with Roddy Piper in WWE.

Hopefully Primo and Epico soon follow Carlito's lead to Future Endeavorland.

Don't see why they should get the same treatment.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

I can remember legit hating Carlito when he originally debuted. Hated his music, hated the way he looked, hated the way he spoke, hated him biting an apple and spitting in peoples faces and during his feud with John Cena over the United States Championship I was fully behind Cena and that is why Carlito was such a great bad guy. He had people literally not liking him, his attitude stunk and then when they turned him face it was like fans were forcing themselves to like him. I remember his brief feud with Randy Orton and tag team with Ric Flair were very hit and miss.

Its odd that what he does now entertains me more than what he did in the WWE. He does a "body guy" gimmick and is one of the more interesting people on Twitter. Pretty outspoken, being one of few wrestlers to voice their opinion on The Rock's muscle mass, yet very funny. He seems to hold a small grudge against the way WWE treated him, his latest shirt says something along the like of, "no talent, no charisma, no personality, body guy," and he says they sell. Don't think he'll pop up in WWE any time soon and he takes a lot of shots at TNA, especially the Ace's and 8's storyline which he seems to hate.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Also I don’t think Carlito showed us anything near his athletic capabilities while in WWE.

Agreed, and I consider that his fault. I feel he didn't show his best because after he became disenchanted with WWE, he gave far less than his best. No, I have no inside knowledge that he was unhappy with his role in the company, but taking what was written about him on wrestling forums and watching how his performance seemed to become sloppy and uninspired even as we read those reports, made me think they were probably accurate.

Compare Carlito and C.M. Punk: Both became angry about the way they were being used and wanted to do something about it. The difference is that Carlito showed his displeasure by letting his performance and his physique go (he appeared soft and flabby after having debuted with a much more impressive body), while Punk never allowed his creative differences with management to affect his performance in the ring or on the mic.

People become unhappy in their jobs, but showing their indifference is no way to improve things. Carlito was fun to watch at the beginning of his tenure.....and boring at the end. That's what the fans are going to care about. I don't know how the man has been making a living since his separation from WWE, but whatever it is, it sure can't be as lucrative, can it?

 

[Soulblazed]

I always was a fan of Carlito..His promos were pretty decent, he put on really good matches when given the chance and I think he could've been at least a lower-tier main eventer if he truly showed his full potential when he was in WWE..I liked his matches with Orton and that feud should've continued..Also, I never got why the tag team lumberjack match at Wrestlemania 23 that Carlito and Flair were in and ended up winning was a dark match..I was at Wrestlemania 23 and the crowd really liked the match.

Funny enough, this past Saturday I saw Carlito wrestle Chris Masters in the main event at a Saturday night show for Big Time Wrestling in Newark, California...The match was entertaining and intense..Carlito hit a helluva Superkick on Masters in the later part of the match, though in the end Masters took him out with The Masterlock...

 

[HBsam31]

I was never a Cena fan, not even when he had his rapper gimmick so I was thrilled when Carlito debuted and took the US title from him. I thought he had a lot of potential, but I have to agree with all that said I don't think he ever showed us his full potential. I loved his catch phrases and I thought he had a good look. i never held it against him for being a Razor Ramon knockoff as I thought there were enough differences. I even liked his tag team with Primo and thought it was cool they unified the tag titles. WWE would just never get fully behind him, and it makes me wonder if the stories of him being lazy were indeed true. He grew up in the business and had the name value. It seemed like everything was working in his favor, but it just never happened. I liked him from the start and always was a fan, but I guess it just wasn't to be.

 

[info62]

When I first joined this forum a little over four years ago not many people here liked Carlito. He was kind of a whipping boy and it seemed fashionable to trash him.

When I was still just a lurking Guest on this forum in 2007, there were a decent amount of Carlito fans on here. By the time I signed up though, I saw the same thing you did. It was more common to see posters hate on him & call him lazy than to say they were a fan of his.

I thought Carlito was definitely very charismatic and had a great character. Sadly he was given horrible material to work with (like when they dragged him into that Hornswoggle garbage). His momentum had been kind of in a rut by that point, but it could have been salvaged if he were taken seriously rather than being put into Wile E. Coyote & Roadrunner antics with the leprechaun

Carlito did end up letting himself go by the end of his run in WWE, but even if he hadn't, I don't think he would have gotten much farther. I think that was clear after that segment where Flair berated him backstage aired. Carlito may have held the IC title since that segment and the tag titles with Primo but nothing was really noteworthy

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

It's tough to say: What came first? Carlito being disenchanted and not trying to impress anyone, or WWE misusing him, his character, and his abilities.

I remember that he had a feud with Cena that also involved his bodyguard Jesus for the U.S. Title. It was a solid build up and all of the guys looked good, but Cena dominated the match, and in the end both Jesus and Carlito ended up fading with no follow up feud. Did WWE see something they didn't like in either of those guys? Tough to say.

I can't help but feel that they had a good opportunity in Carlito: Popular in Puerto Rico, would've been another strong play with Latino fans, easily could've swung from heel to face depending on the need.

But what do I know? I thought Mr. Kennedy would've been a superstar in the WWE.

 

[Obliteration13]

Could have been much bigger if he wasn't a half-stepper. Flair lit him up on Raw one time and there was speculation what he was saying was a shoot. Really seemed to stop caring and walked his way through his matches. Found it funny that he criticized the Rock and alluded to steroids. Steroids or not, the Rock was, is, and will always be better than Carlos will ever be. At the end of his run with WWE, the only thing it looked like Carlos lifted was cheeseburgers, and little cheeseburgers at that (arms weren't very toned). Wouldn't be surprised if Carlos was also popping copious amounts of Hershey's miniatures and injecting himself with melted margarine.

 

[CM Steel]

Fuck Carlito! The dude wins the WWE U.S. title from John Cena in his debut match in the WWE on Smackdown. He wins the IC title from Shelton Benjamin on his first night on RAW. He wins the now unified WWE tag team title's with his little brother Primo at Wrestlemania 25 the anniversary with their legendary father Carlos Colon Sr. in the crowd. And where did his WWE career go after all of that success? Out the WWE door! Carlito got more then he deserved during his run. And if he would have stayed off those pain pills and such. He may have been released later on down the line anyways. Or atlease the E wouldn't have re-signed Carlito to a contract like how they did John Morrison.

To me, Carlito was as cool as a trip to the dentist...But I do enjoy eating apples though no question.

 

[berlinbrawler]

The thing I remember about Carlito is his debut, defeating John Cena for the U.S. title as Cena was gearing up to become a top draw.
At the time I absolutely loathed John Cena (a lot more than I hate him these days actually), and that was at a time when hating Cena wasn't the in-thing to do. (That's right, I hated Cena before it was cool! ) And when this rookie took the chain and knocked Cena out he became an instant favourite of mine.
And for the longest time I tried really hard at staying a fan. Unfortunately Carlito drifted more and more into obscurity and eventually he seemed to stop caring himself. By the time he left I was more than ready to let go.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I strongly disliked Carlito. I'm talking pure utter disgust toward his character. I always try to give wrestlers a chance, but I simply HATED this guy. I'd groan any time I heard his entrance theme and any time he had a match I would root in favor of who he was facing. Seriously, there was nothing "cool" about this guy. I cannot recall a single time that I ever wanted to see him win. His US Championship debut win against Cena made me angry as I have always been a Cena fan and suddenly some annoying guy beats him in his FIRST match? His Intercontinental Championship win his first night on Raw was equally frustrating.

Then there was his alliance with Flair. I try to root for the faces as that is part of the show, but this is one of the few times that I flat out refused to. I hated Carlito and now WWE expected me to cheer for this guy? Yeah.... No. If he was in tag team matches with guys like Cena or Trips I'd go from rooting for their team if his partner was in action to suddenly rooting for the opponents if Carlito tagged in. His Unified Tag Team Championship win with his brother should never have happened. His career had already gone downhill at that point. Miz & Morrison should have won that match. I honestly cannot fathom how he lasted as long as he did. Carlito's character was annoying and he would never have seen any more success than he did. His promos, matches, and Cabana segments were nothing to write home about. The only thing that didn't suck about him was his merchandise, some of which was alright. Anyone who can make me refuse to root for them regardless of their face/heel status speaks wonders of how much they sucked. I say good riddance as far as he's concerned and I do not miss him whatsoever.

 

[TLC]

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who misses him. The dude had some fantastic talent and could've done so much more with his career. The match involving him, John Morrison and Shelton Benjamin at Vengeance 2006 is one of my favourite matches; criminally underrated.


He started out in one of the best ways possible and I legitimately disliked him (I was young) but now I realise he was doing his job, exceptionally well it seems. His in ring work didn't get great for about a year or so but he was still one of the better talents on the roster. It's such a shame that he had a back attitude or so I've heard as I really think he could have become a future world champion; he's better than most the fuckers on Smackdown at the minute. He has a good lock, great in ring skills, he could talk well and some solid charisma, everything you need in a performer. I was hoping that he would be back when rumours started circulating about his being in the Royal Rumble, but alas, that didn't happen.

Such a shame, but I won't fret over it too much.