Carlito's highly anticipated return to WWE promised excitement and nostalgia, but the reality has fallen short of expectations. Let's look into the reasons behind Carlito's failed comeback and what could have been done differently to make his return a success.
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Make sure you like the video and subscribe to Sportskeeda Wrestling for more wrestling content.
You can also visit our site: https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe
#carlito #reymysterio #wwe #wrestling #sportskeedawrestling
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SportsTranscript
00:00 Carlito's return to WWE hasn't been as big as you might have expected on paper,
00:04 and it's still playing out. WWE's been red hot for quite some time now, but the king of Caribbean
00:11 cool hasn't looked as cool since he returned. After Carlito made an appearance at Backlash
00:17 2023 in Puerto Rico to a massive ovation, it seemed like a matter of when, not if,
00:24 he was going to return to WWE completely. All the stars aligned, and that moment finally came
00:29 at Fastlane when he aligned with Rey Mysterio and joined the LWO faction. It was a long time coming,
00:36 especially since he hadn't been in WWE for a good 13 years apart from a few cameos like the 2021
00:43 Royal Rumble. It's almost surprising that his first run on the WWE main roster lasted only
00:48 6 years, but it goes to show what an impact he had during that time, and that his name is still
00:54 on the lips of fans. In terms of accomplishments, he beat John Cena on the main roster debut that he
00:59 had, winning the United States Championship, and was one of the strongest intercontinental
01:04 champions of that time. Add a couple of tag team wins, and he had a pretty good run there in WWE.
01:10 But the indirect reason for his eventual WWE release was his finisher. It sounds a bit crazy,
01:16 no, but hear us out. Carlito's finisher was a backstabber, which involves him falling on his
01:22 back and having the weight of pretty heavyweight musclebound men on him as well, and he did this
01:29 night in and night out. And guess what, it adds up. You could probably imagine that doing that
01:34 on a regular basis isn't really good for anyone's back, and the pain he suffered from it led to him
01:40 maybe getting hooked on painkillers and other issues. The painkiller addiction led to him
01:45 failing a WWE wellness policy, which was one of the things that was introduced a few years prior
01:50 to his WWE run the first time. Carlito refused to enter rehab for it, leading to him getting
01:56 released by WWE. He's kind of in the same boat as Randy Orton, where they both wish they had come up
02:01 with finishing moves that don't involve them falling directly on their backs. The difference
02:06 between Carlito and Randy Orton is that the backstabber isn't tied to his popularity as the
02:11 same way as the RKO is tied to Randy Orton, so even if Randy Orton wanted to change his finishing
02:16 move, he kind of can't do that right now. Either way, Carlito didn't struggle to find work after
02:21 WWE and stayed very active in pro wrestling. He spent a large chunk of the next decade wrestling
02:27 for his family's promotion, World Wrestling Council, founded by his legendary Hall of Fame father,
02:33 Carlos Colon. It may have taken longer than he hoped, but he finally returned to WWE in 2023
02:38 in amazing shape. The moment of backlash, in hindsight, was WWE testing the waters for his
02:44 return, and doing it in his native homeland of Puerto Rico was probably the smart idea.
02:48 But there was one major mistake that was made right off the bat after he officially signed
02:53 with WWE. They took away that iconic theme song. Did he really need it? It's not exactly clear,
02:58 but some people think it was really part of the mix in his act. This isn't exactly a hot take in
03:02 wrestling world, but theme songs back then were just so much better than they might be now.
03:07 Carlito's finisher may not have been tied to his popularity, but that theme song damn sure was.
03:13 Him joining the LWO wasn't a sign that he was going to be a main event player, but that's okay,
03:18 WWE has a very thick, depth-filled roster right now. We're almost certain that Carlito knew when
03:23 signing with WWE that he would be in a position to make good money, but not necessarily get that
03:28 main event push. But instead, he was a veteran whose presence was meant to elevate other stars,
03:33 in this case, like Santos Escobar and Dragon Lee. And that isn't a bad role to have.
03:38 WWE even put Carlito on what would have been his first singles premium live event match in 16 years,
03:45 but decided for whatever reason to take him out of it so Dragon Lee could get that spot against
03:51 the formidable Santos Escobar in an active situation involving a lot of the Latin American
03:56 talent at the time. That felt like a slap in the face to some, and wasn't necessarily all that much
04:02 of a help to Dragon Lee who was still on his way up. Carlito was one of the main people involved
04:08 in exposing Santos Escobar's betrayal of Rey Mysterio, and it made complete sense for him to
04:13 have his biggest match in years. Perhaps the biggest reason why his run hasn't been as cool
04:20 as you might have expected it to be has been his association, or rather his supporting,
04:25 very supporting role in the LWO. Now, like we said, that's not a bad role to be in,
04:30 but it seems counteractive of the role we saw him play prior in WWE of being a brash,
04:36 talking heel who instigated issues with other people. We're not hating on the LWO,
04:41 we are hating on the way the story has been handled. The entire saga involving Santos Escobar
04:47 defecting and reforming his group, Logato del Fantasma, should have been one of the hottest
04:53 storylines on SmackDown, but it was not exactly hot. The story has not exactly hit the larger
04:59 impact of any of the stars involved, even intended to benefit names like Escobar, Dragon Lee, and
05:05 Andrade to an extent. Dragon Lee especially has lost all of the momentum that he might have had
05:10 during this period when Carlito returned. Carlito has really just been running in a side effect
05:16 role. And sure, on one hand, it probably made sense for Carlito to betray the LWO, but on the
05:22 other hand, not giving him a spot at that WrestleMania this year may have been a slap in
05:27 the face, because Andrade will have way more opportunities to compete on a WrestleMania
05:32 than Carlito has in his limited future in the ring. Plus, at WrestleMania, they brought in
05:37 those Kelsey guys from the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL angle, so there were a lot of other
05:42 elements there that maybe pushed Carlito aside. It's crazy to think that Carlito has only ever
05:47 competed on a WrestleMania three times in his illustrious career. Even Carlito's betrayal of
05:52 the LWO has not been particularly well executed. After Rey Mysterio pulled the strings on Raw to
05:58 get Carlito over there despite him leaving the LWO, nothing really came of it. His status as
06:03 being a crony for the Judgment Day without being in the Judgment Day isn't an elevating look either.
06:09 If he's going to be a supporting player, have him in the mix. Can he actually join the Judgment Day?
06:13 Would he be a good fit for the group? The entire story has been one of the lowlights in an otherwise
06:18 hot period of WWE overall. Problem is, Carlito is not a part of that hot side of the mix. There's
06:24 been little reason for anybody to care about what he's doing right now. Think of it from a point of
06:29 view of a younger fan who's never watched Carlito in the Ruthless Aggression era. Who is this guy?
06:35 Why are they supposed to attach some emotions to him? Why exactly are they supposed to care
06:39 about him? There's something about the role of returning veterans that has been kind of
06:43 challenging. It's initially very, very fun, but what do you do with them week to week?
06:48 I'm sure you have names like Rey Mysterio who have come back and found a lot of success and
06:51 elevated a lot of other people with them, like his son Dominic Mysterio. But it feels more often
06:57 than not, returning veterans are put in these positions that can be really, really challenging
07:02 circumstantially. Let's enter the Dudley Boys. In 2015-2016, this is a good example. So is Shelton
07:09 Benjamin in 2017. Barring his brief run with the Hurt Business, these were talents that were brought
07:14 in to get that big initial pop, but where do things go after that? But to counter that, look at names
07:20 that left WWE and came back, like a Drew McIntyre who's at the top of the wrestling world right now.
07:26 It's not like it isn't possible to have someone come back to WWE and make a big splash. Maybe it's
07:32 a good thing that he's managing to get television time. It's a lot more than guys like Odyssey
07:36 Jones. Yeah, Odyssey Jones, still on the roster in WWE. And if this was a pre-2022 era where Triple
07:43 H isn't at the top of the helm creatively, then it's likely that Carlito would just be sitting
07:48 in catering, collecting a paycheck before, I don't know, being released or sent somewhere else in the
07:53 company. Or maybe it's just a side effect of having a more competitive roster where everyone is truly
07:58 competing for television time and delivering and maximizing the minutes they have, because many
08:03 fans would argue that Carlito is not deserving of a bigger spot than he has anyway. More championships,
08:09 a good storyline, and a character change would probably be an interesting direction for WWE to
08:13 take with Carlito, as long as he stays on good terms with WWE. He's bound for a future Hall of
08:18 Fame spot. He's had a great career. And hey, why doesn't he deserve the big payday anyway?
08:24 He made moments and he can make more.