Carlito Is Back

[Anush Faigley]

FormerWWE Intercontinental Champion Carlito has returned to WWE. The second-generation talent re-signed with WWE earlier this year, but outside of an appearance at WWE Backlash in Puerto Rico, the star was not seen on WWE programming until last weekend's WWE Fastlane event, where he once again made a surprise appearance to help out Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar of the LWO defeat Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits.

"I just had this feeling that I would be back somehow," Carlito explained to the "Cheap Heat" podcast. "I don't know how. The reason I think it took so long was miscommunication on both sides. I thought I had heat with them, they thought they had heat with me and...we just didn't communicate. I've always had love for WWE. I've always wanted to be WWE but I just needed a break. I didn't need a 13-year break."

"I don't do the go backstage and say hi to everyone," Carlito explained, saying it makes people think he's looking for a job. "My resume's out there. I don't want to be anywhere they don't want me." Carlito thinks the lack of proactive communication on his part gave WWE the impression he didn't want to come back.

While Carlito is grateful to be back, it did come with a modicum of compromise. The former WWE United States Champion had hoped to use his original theme music for his new run in WWE, but instead is entering to the same music as his LWO compatriots. Carlito says he liked the song the way it was, but as he heard his new theme more and more it began to grow on him.

Carlos Edwin Coln Coates Jr.[a][5] (born February 21, 1979)[1] is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand with the ring name Carlito, and is an associate member of The Judgment Day.

He is a member of the Coln wrestling family, being the son of Carlos Coln. He made his debut for World Wrestling Council (WWC) in 1999, winning the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship 17 times and the WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship once.[6] During the early years of his career, he made appearances for the X Wrestling Federation and Funking Conservatory, winning his first international championship for the second.

In 2003, Coln signed a developmental contract with WWE. He worked in its developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) for 16 months, mostly wrestling in tag team matches while making appearances in WWC. In October 2004, he made his main roster debut. He went on to become a one-time United States Champion and one-time Intercontinental Champion, and was part of both the Raw and SmackDown brands. He is the only wrestler to win a championship on two separate debuts in WWE and the second Puerto Rican wrestler (after Pedro Morales) to hold the Intercontinental Championship. At WrestleMania 25, Coln and his brother Primo unified the WWE Tag Team Championship and World Tag Team Championship as the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship before leaving WWE in May 2010. In 2021, Coln briefly returned to WWE, first as an entrant in the Royal Rumble[7] and then the following night on Raw. He then returned in May 2023 at Backlash to assist Bad Bunny and the Latino World Order (LWO). Following this, Coln re-signed with WWE, but it was not until Fastlane in October when he reappeared as the LWO's mystery tag team partner and was subsequently assigned to the SmackDown brand.

Carlos Edwin Coln Coates Jr.[1] was born in the Santurce district of San Juan[2] on February 21, 1979,[1] the son of Puerto Rican professional wrestler and World Wrestling Council founder Carlos Coln and his Canadian-born wife Nancy.[8][9] He has three younger siblings, including fellow wrestlers Eddie (best known in the WWE as Primo) and Stacy Coln, both of whom performed in the World Wrestling Council.[10][11] A second sister, Melissa, did not enter the wrestling business.[12] Other members of Coln's family have also been involved in the World Wrestling Council, including his cousin Orlando (best known in WWE as Epico) and uncle Jos.

Coln graduated from the Jesuit school Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola in 1997. Unsatisfied with his physical conditioning, he joined a gym at the age of 11.[10] He has said that he only did so for exercise and did not originally intend to become a wrestler.[10] It was not until completing his college education that he decided to train, after noticing that his condition was on par with the wrestlers despite his age.[10] Despite this, Coln initially expected to retire within a decade and go on to run a private business.[10] He has admitted that, during this initial stage, he received peer pressure to match the accomplishments of his father.[10]

In July 1999,[4] Coln began working in the World Wrestling Council as a cameraman, then known by his actual nickname "Carly", being subtly introduced to the television programming.[13] Soon after his first appearance, the promotion's main heel (or villainous) wrestler, Ray Gonzlez, took an interest in him after learning his identity. After weeks of being pestered, Coln responded by punching Gonzlez, which resulted in a beat-down by the dominant heel stable, La Familia del Milenio.[13] At Aniversario 1999, Coln interrupted a match between Gonzlez and Coln Sr., aiding his father by interrupting while wielding a shovel, which became his trademark weapon early in his career.[13] The feud between Coln Sr. and Gonzlez continued, with him interfering on his father's behalf. The final match of this feud concluded in the same manner that the first Aniversario encounter.[13] Soon after, vignettes depicting him training with Isaac Rosario began airing in WWC's show, Superestrellas de la Lucha Libre. Coln made his in-ring debut in January 2000 by defeating Flix Tapia, a jobber and member of La Familia.[14] He was immediately booked in a major push, defeating almost the entirety of the heel locker room during the following two weeks. Despite being active for less than three months, he earned the support of the WWC fanbase.[14]

On January 29, 2000, Coln defeated Gonzlez to become the youngest wrestler to win the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship. Following his victory, he was engulfed by fans and carried to the locker room by the Ejercto de la Justicia, the main fan-favorite stable in the promotion.[14] Gonzlez countered by creating a coalition of wrestlers that had feuded with Coln Sr. in the past, led by Hercules Ayala and Ramn lvarez. On February 19, 2000, Coln dropped the Universal Heavyweight Championship to Gonzlez, following intervention from lvarez.[14] This led to a double feud against lvarez and Ayala, from which he emerged victorious. During this time frame, he also wrestled One Man Gang, who was involved a storyline where a $10,000 bounty was placed by La Familia to "end his career". On July 16, 2000, Coln defeated Gonzlez to recover the championship in the main event of Aniversario, the promotion's anniversary event.[14] This was followed with a feud with Curt Hennig, brought in by La Familia, who won the title by pinning him on September 30, 2000.[14] Both met in a rematch the following event, with the championship being held-up following a time limit draw. On November 25, 2000, Coln recovered the belt by defeating Hennig in a no-disqualification contest without time limit.[14] On December 3, 2000, Coln wrestled "The Botswana Beast" Benjamin Peacock to a double count out. In his next match, he defeated Horace Hogan.

Gonzlez turned on Hennig and brought in Jerry Flynn to recapture the title.[14] Coln won their first encounters, but Flynn won the Universal Heavyweight Championship on February 17, 2001. He resumed his feud with Gonzlez, before migrating to another angle against La Familia's main tag team, Thunder and Lightning, composed of Reynaldo "Thunder" Rodrguez and Alex "Lightning" Cruz.[14] Teaming with his father and brother, Eddie Coln, he earned a victory over them. Thunder and Lightning went on to turn on Gonzlez, who then pursued a partnership with Coln, looking for him in several locations. At Aniversario 2001: Septiembre Negro, he teamed with Gonzlez to defeat Thunder and Lightning.[15] However, the partnership was short lived, with Gonzlez turning on Coln and regaining control of La Familia. On November 13, 2001, Coln participated in the television tapings of the X Wrestling Federation. In his only appearance for the promotion, he defeated David Sierra. On December 1, 2001, Coln defeated Gonzlez to win the Universal Heavyweight Championship, restarting the formula of bringing foreign wrestlers to challenge him.[14]

His next feud was against Vampiro, winning the first encounters between them, but losing the title in a no-disqualification contest. A rematch ended in a double disqualification, with the belt being held-up after both assaulted the designated referee.[14] To close this rivalry, Coln defeated Vampiro to regain the Universal Heavyweight Championship. On March 16, 2002, he teamed with his brother to defeat Thunder and Lightning and win the WWC World Tag Team Championship. Their reign only lasted a day, losing a rematch the following date. He subsequently formed an alliance with Konnan, winning the belts again on March 26, 2002, and holding them for nearly three months. After losing the titles back to Thunder and Lightning, Konnan turned on Coln by attacking his sister, Stacy Coln, with a guitar.[14] He dropped the title in the ensuing feud, recovering it back on November 23, 2002. To open 2003, Coln lost the belt to Jos "Chicky Starr" Laureano, winning it back the following month.[14] On March 15, 2003, he lost the championship to Sabu, before recovering it two weeks later.[14] In May 2003, Coln wrestled in two tryout matches for World Wrestling Entertainment.[16] His opponents were Tommy Dreamer and Jamie Noble, with both contests ending in a loss.[17] Three different reports scouted his performance in a positive manner, with an official offer being made days after the initial appearances.

On June 2, 2003, Coln signed a developmental contract with WWE, being assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling.[4] He made a final appearance in WWC, winning a match over Mike Awesome at Aniversario 2003. Following this performance, Coln addressed the crowd and vacated the Universal Heavyweight Championship, with the next titleholder being decided in a tournament following his departure.[14] The staff of WWC's main rival, the International Wrestling Association (IWA-PR), was surprised by the event due to the promotion's previous association with WWE.[18] They expected the tryout to conclude with the same outcome that the ones that WWE held with their talents (Germn Figueroa, Ricky Banderas and Andy Anderson) without any offer being made, deciding to counter the signing's impact with a storyline that benefited from it. The following month in the tour to promote the Summer Attitude 2003 event, IWA-PR began announcing the arrival of the "son of a former world champion" and "legend that is universally recognized" to the promotion, which was heavily implied to be Coln, but actually served as a plot device to introduce David Flair.[19][20] Before the identity was revealed, his music was played over the sound system, only for the crowd to be told by Savio Vega (Juan Rivera) that they should avoid "acting like morons".[21]

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