Wednesday, November 28, 2007

WWE Superstar Carlito

Carlito spits in the face of people who don't want to be cool, and apparently, many WWE Superstars fall into the category. Exceptionally opinionated and full of himself, Carlito projects quite the smooth demeanor. Armed with an apple in hand, Carlito isn't afraid to unload a mouthful of apple and spit it into your face after labeling you not cool. Of course, this has led to a great deal of trouble for Carlito as WWE Superstars haven't taken his attitude well.

Debuting with a big impact, Carlito defeated reigning United States Champion John Cena in his first WWE match in October 2004. Quickly making a lot of enemies, Carlito found himself in need of some back-up. Always scheming, Carlito introduced his Puerto Rican muscle - Jesus. It was around this time in November 2004 that tragedy struck, as John Cena was stabbed in a Boston nightclub following a SmackDown event. An investigation was launched, but a culprit was never found. However, Carlito and his associate were both rumored to being connected to the hideous attack on Cena.

With Carlito's cockiness and buzz growing, his momentum hit a bump in the road; he suffered a shoulder injury in late 2004, which sidelined him through the spring of 2005. Carlito's ego insists on that worldwide spotlight which is WWE, so he began hosting a talk show segment on SmackDown called Carlito's Cabana. Irritating and disrespecting countless SmackDown Superstars during the Cabana, Carlito maintained his spot as one of the most loathed Superstars on SmackDown despite being out of the ring for nearly five months.

After recovering from injury, Carlito and the Big Show butted heads and went at it for several months on SmackDown, with Carlito adding the stuttering Matt Morgan as his muscle to combat the near 500 pound giant. In June of 2005, Carlito was drafted to Raw in the 2005 Draft Lottery; once again he made history in his debut, defeating Shelton Benjamin to claim the Intercontinental Championship. Carlito held onto the gold through several rematches, but his luck ran out at Unforgiven when he was defeated by Ric Flair.

Heading into Survivor Series, Carlito asked then-General Manager Eric Bischoff for a spot on Team Raw. He promised that he would focus on wrestling, and said there would be no more Carlito's Cabana. Bischoff granted him his chance, and he defeated Shelton Benjamin on an edition of RAW to earn his spot.

After Survivor Series, Carlito moved his focus to the ultimate prize: the WWE Championship. Carlito won a spot in the Elimination Chamber Match at New Year's Revolution, forming a tenuous alliance with Chris Masters in an attempt to get the gold around the waist of some new blood. It nearly worked, as Masters, Carlito and then-champion John Cena were the final three men in the match. However, after Carlito turned against Masters to eliminate him, Cena rolled up the distracted Caribbean to claim the victory.

Heading into the Royal Rumble, Carlito ran into issues with Kane. He angered the Big Red Monster with some comments on RAW, and on the RAW prior to the Royal Rumble, attacked Kane with a chair during their match. However, Kane sat up after taking the chair shot, sending Carlito scurrying from the ring.

In February 2006, Carlito said that he had an idea for WrestleMania 22 that was "money in the bank." On the Feb. 20 RAW, he announced that his idea was approved by Mr. McMahon, and the second Money in the Bank Ladder Match was sanctioned for WrestleMania. Unfortunately for Carlito, he was defeated by Rob Van Dam the next week, failing to qualify for the match.

However, on the March 6 Raw, Carlito was still rewarded with a great WrestleMania opportunity, as it was announced that Carlito & Chris Masters would face Big Show & Kane for the World Tag Team Championship. Masters & Carlito attacked the champions that night, and for the next month, the challengers did everything they could to throw the champions off their game. It didn't work, and when the rivalry culminated at WrestleMania, Masters accidentally clobbered Carlito, allowing Big Show & Kane to defeat them and retain the World Tag Team Championship.

The night after on RAW, Carlito came out after Masters' victory, spitting apple in the face of The Masterpiece's opponent. All seemed well between the two, but when Masters turned his back, Carlito dropped him with a back cracker, then spit in his face for good measure. The following week, Carlito came out to gloat, but was interrupted by Masters. Carlito challenged Masters to an impromptu Master Lock Challenge; Carlito threw his apple before it began, however, and when Masters stopped to catch it, Carlito used that opportunity to hit him in the head with a chair. Following the confrontation, their match at Backlash was announced. On the final RAW before Backlash, Masters was able to get the Master Lock on Carlito, but Carlito's team was able to defeat Masters' in a Six-Man Tag Team Match. It wasn't enough, as Carlito beat his former partner at Backlash, then once again in a tag team match the next night on RAW.

At WWE vs. ECW Head to Head, Carlito represented WWE in a 20-Man ECW vs. WWE Battle Royal. It appeared as if team WWE won the Battle Royal when Randy Orton eliminated Kurt Angle, but Big Show ripped off his shirt to reveal that he had defected to ECW. Show then chokeslammed Orton and tossed him over the top rope to claim victory for ECW.

Carlito then set his sights on the Intercontinental Championship, picking up a big win over then-Champion Shelton Benjamin in a non-title match on the June 5 RAW. Benjamin returned the favor the next week, helping Nitro get a cheap victory over Carlito. That night, Carlito took on Nitro. Benjamin got involved, holding Nitro while. Later, it was announced that the three men would meet at Vengeance in a Triple Threat Match.

At Vengeance, Nitro stole Carlito's pinfall on Shelton Benjamin to win the Intercontinental Championship. Carlito nailed Benjamin with the back cracker, but the opportunistic Nitro pulled him out of the ring and pinned the champion.

The next night, Nitro and Melina tried to attack Trish, but Carlito came out to run them off. Later, Trish thanked Carlito and the two have been close ever since. Trish and Carlito took turns watching each other's backs against the double-teaming duo or Nitro and Melina. At Saturday Night's Main Event, Trish and Carlito showed they made a good pair when they beat Nitro and Melina in a Mixed Tag Team Match.

The relationship with Trish didn't last long due to her retirement from sports-entertainment. However, Carlito didn't waste much time. Since Trish left, he's been barking up another Raw Diva's tree: Torrie Wilson. Will his romantic endeavor with Torrie pan out? Only time will tell for the Caribbean Superstar.


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