| Carly Colón | |
|---|---|
| Ring name(s) | Carlito[1] Carlitos Carlito Colón Carlito Caribbean Cool[1][2] Carly Colón[1][2] Carlos Colón, Jr.[1][2] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[3] |
| Billed weight | 220 lb (100 kg)[3] |
| Born | February 21, 1979 [1][4] Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico[1][2] |
| Resides | Houston, Texas |
| Billed from | The Caribbean[3] |
| Trained by | Carlos Colón, Sr.[1][2] Issac Rosario[1] |
| Debut | November 1999[1][5] |
Carlos Edwin "Carly" Colón, Jr.[4] (born on February 21, 1979)[1][4] is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler better known internationally by his ring name Carlito. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), but was released from his contract on May 21, 2010. In his native Puerto Rico, he is known as both Carly Colón and Carlito. Colón occasionally still performs in the World Wrestling Council (WWC). He is a 13-time world champion having held the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship 13-times. Colon is currently in his 13th reign.[6]
In 2003, Colón signed a developmental contract with WWE. He worked in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) for two years frequently teaming with Mike Mondo and being managed by Kenny Bolin. After training in OVW for several months, Colón made his debut on October 7, 2004, on SmackDown! as Carlito Caribbean Cool. Colón is a former United States Champion and Intercontinental Champion and has been 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 to become Intercontinental Champion after Pedro Morales. At WrestleMania XXV, Colón and his brother, Eddie Colón, became the first tag team to unify the WWE Tag Team Championship and World Tag Team Championship.
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Colón is son of retired wrestler Carlos Colón, Sr. and the of four siblings, including Eddie Colón and Stacy Colón, both of whom have performed with Colón in the World Wrestling Council.[7][8] A second sister, Melissa did not enter the wrestling business.[9] Other members of Colón's family have also been involved in the World Wrestling Council; his uncle José Colón and cousin Orlando Colón have been involved in several angles within the company. He was educated and graduated from the Jesuit-run Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola (1991–1997).
Colón's decision to sign with World Wrestling Entertainment was a controversial one among the Puerto Rican wrestling community. He was criticized by the locals, labeled as someone who had "sold out" his Puerto Rican wrestling traditions over for the "flash and flair" of the American company. Colón spoke of this in an interview with The Sun in which he stated "I did not care about what they thought. I've always dreamed of working for the WWE when I was young, and I took that chance when it came".[10]
Colón is also a Canadian citizen since new citizenship laws came into effect in Canada on April 17, 2009, which automatically gave citizenship (retroactive to date of birth) to all individuals born outside of Canada in the first generation born abroad to a Canadian parent (Colón was born in the first generation abroad – Puerto Rico – to a Canadian mother).[11][12]
In November 1999, Colón began competing in the World Wrestling Council (WWC) in Puerto Rico as a face under the name "Carlito". During his time with WWC, he feuded with Ray Gonzalez. The two competed in several matches involving the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship, with both of them defeating their adversary in title bouts on separate occasions.
When Colón signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment, he was assigned a heel character in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). During this period, Colón was also booked as a heel for WWC and was involved in an angle where he had conflicts with members of his family. This angle culminated in the company's anniversary event, Anniversario 2004, where he competed in a match against his brother Eddie.[13]
During this time, Carlito was present at "Lockout", a special event presented by the World Wrestling Council that took place on December 16, 2006. At this event, Carlito defeated Heidenreich to become Universal Heavyweight Champion, but was stripped of the championship minutes later.
Colón appeared in the World Wrestling Council's Aniversario 2007 event where he faced Razor Ramon. As a way to promote the match, Ramon claimed that Colón's character was an imitation of him, dubbing Carlito Mini Razor.[14] Carlito defeated Ramon with his Back Stabber finisher, in a match that included interference by the then-Universal Heavyweight Champion Apollo.[15]
After the draft, he asked for a vacation, using this time to attend his father's official retirement ceremonies at Aniversario 2008, where he also wrestled against Ray Gonzalez.[9][16]
On June 2, 2003, Colón signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment.[5] The company assigned him to their developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). In OVW, Colón's character was managed by Kenny Bolin and he frequently teamed with Mike Mondo.[5] His first performance on WWE's main roster was in a dark match that took place before the December 15, 2003 Raw tapings.[17] While working in OVW, Colón continued to appear in various World Wrestling Council events. In April 2004, Colón was scheduled to wrestle under his Ohio Valley gimmick against Abyss in a special event for WWC, but WWE did not grant Colón permission to perform at the event as a result of Abyss' contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.[18]
On October 7, 2004, Colón made his debut on SmackDown! as "Carlito Caribbean Cool" (though later shortened to simply "Carlito"), whose gimmick was an apple toting big mouth who would spit apple "in the face of people who were not cool".[3] Carlito defeated John Cena for the United States Championship in his first match on the main roster.[3] Carlito was then involved in a storyline where his bodyguard Jesús stabbed Cena in a nightclub.[19] Carlito held the United States Championship for forty-two days, losing it back to Cena after suffering a legitimate injury. Carlito made his pay-per-view debut at the 2004 Survivor Series, where he represented Team Angle in an eight man tag team match against Team Guerrero, but did not actually participate in the event after being chased out of the building by Cena.
While Carlito was recovering from an injury, he was involved in a comical angle with SmackDown!'s general manager, Theodore Long. The storyline consisted of Carlito being forced to do demeaning chores around the arena, such as selling hot dogs, removing snow from parking lots with a shovel and mopping floors. As a result of these actions, Carlito created a petition in support of Long’s destitution, but was unsuccessful. On March 26, 2005, Colón performed for the first time in six months as Carlito, in a match against his younger brother Eddie Colón during an event in Caguas, Puerto Rico arriving to the stadium in a helicopter and under a massive standing ovation of the thousands of fans gather that night. Carlito made his WrestleMania debut in a non-wrestling role at WrestleMania 21, in which he interrupted an edition of Rowdy Roddy Piper's Piper's Pit, with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the special guest. This event led to an angle in the World Wrestling Council, where Piper and Carlito were booked to wrestle a match on Friday Madness, a special event presented by the company, which Piper won. Following WrestleMania, Carlito created an interview segment entitled Carlito’s Cabana.[3] Carlito then entered a feud with The Big Show after a spot where Show refused an offer to work in an enforcer role for Carlito. This feud involved Carlito tricking Show into eating a poisoned apple, and Matt Morgan becoming Carlito's enforcer. This feud ended with Carlito defeating Show at Judgment Day.[20]
Carlito was drafted to the Raw brand in the 2005 WWE Draft Lottery, where he defeated Shelton Benjamin for the Intercontinental Championship in his debut match for the brand.[21] He then lost the Intercontinental title to Ric Flair at Unforgiven.[22] Towards the end of 2005, Carlito was involved in a brand rivalry which led to him discontinuing Carlito's Cabana. The angle concluded with Carlito wrestling for Team Raw against Team SmackDown! in a ten man tag team match at the Survivor Series.[23]
In late 2005, Carlito was added to angles involving the WWE Championship. After defeating Shelton Benjamin in a qualifying match, Carlito was added to the main event at New Year's Revolution in early 2006,[24] the Elimination Chamber match. He was one of the final two wrestlers remaining, after eliminating Kane, Chris Masters and Shawn Michaels. He then lost the match to John Cena.[25]
Carlito appeared in another World Wrestling Council show that took place on March 15, 2006 in Carolina, Puerto Rico. He defeated Tyson Tomko, and he hosted an edition of Carlito's Cabana with Victor Jovica and Carlos Colón.
Following New Year's Revolution, Carlito and Chris Masters joined forces as a tag team. Together they competed against Big Show and Kane for the World Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania 22. Carlito and Masters lost when Masters accidentally attacked Carlito.[26] Following the match, Carlito confronted Masters, igniting a feud between them. Carlito then turned face when he attacked Chris Masters after his "Masterlock Challenge" the next night on Raw. This storyline came to a conclusion at Backlash, where Carlito defeated Masters via an illegal assist from the ropes.[27]
At Vengeance, Carlito fought in a Triple Threat match against Shelton Benjamin and Johnny Nitro for Benjamin's Intercontinental title. Nitro won the match after pulling Carlito outside of the ring and pinning him.[28] Following Vengeance, Carlito began an on-screen relationship with Trish Stratus, turning face as a result. He also engaged in a short feud with Johnny Nitro and Melina, which ended after Carlito and Stratus defeated Nitro and Melina in a mixed tag team match at Saturday Night's Main Event.[29] Carlito next feuded with Randy Orton, following a spot where Orton attempted to attack Stratus during a backstage segment. The two wrestlers were booked for a match at Unforgiven and a rematch on Raw; Orton won both matches. The feud concluded in a match at WWE’s annual Tribute to the Troops event, where Carlito won by pinfall.[30] The angle involving Carlito's relationship with Trish Stratus lasted until Stratus' retirement from wrestling following Unforgiven.
In the final months of 2006, Carlito competed in several matches involving the Intercontinental Championship. His involvement in this angle ended at Cyber Sunday 2006, after being elected by the fans to face Jeff Hardy for the championship. Carlito, however, lost the match.[31] During this time period Carlito's gimmick underwent a slight change and was sold as a "ladies man", eventually getting involved in another fictional relationship with Torrie Wilson. Carlito participated in the 2007 Royal Rumble, where he was eliminated by The Great Khali. Following the Royal Rumble, Carlito started a feud with Ric Flair, in which Flair insulted Carlito for leaving a show early by claiming that he had no heart, no passion and was undeserving of his spot on the roster.[32] After Carlito challenged and lost to Flair in a match, they were booked as a tag team, with Flair serving as a mentor to Carlito.[33] The team was involved in a Money in the Bank qualifying match which was declared a "no contest" after The Great Khali interfered. This led to a triple threat match the following week which included and was won by Randy Orton.[34]
Prior to the WrestleMania 23, Colón expressed dissatisfaction with WWE management in an interview for not having plans to book him to appear at the pay-per-view and criticized their methods for selecting performers to push, making reference to backstage politics.[35] Carlito, however, did participate in a dark match at WrestleMania, winning in a tag team match with Flair as his partner against the team of Chavo Guerrero and Gregory Helms. The team also lost a number one contender's match for the World Tag Team Championship against Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. Carlito turned on Flair after the loss, which turned him heel again.[36] Their feud ended with a match at Judgment Day, where Carlito lost to Flair by submission.[37]
Following his feud with Flair he was involved in angles with The Sandman and Triple H. He then lost to Triple H at Unforgiven 2007 in a no disqualification match where the no disqualification rule only applied to Carlito.[38] In late 2007, Colón requested his release from the WWE as he was unhappy with the direction of his character. Following a meeting with Vince McMahon, however, he was convinced to stay.[39] On December 10, 2007, he was featured in a ladder match at the Raw 15th Anniversary against Jeff Hardy for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, which Hardy won.[40] Carlito defeated Cody Rhodes to qualify for the money in the bank ladder match at Wrestlemania 24. He failed to win at the event.
Carlito then formed a tag team with Santino Marella. The team was placed in several matches involving the World Tag Team Championship, twice being named the number one contenders; however, they lost the relevant championship matches.
(2009) Carlito had a little romance with Maria Kanellis.
As part of the 2008 WWE Supplemental Draft, Carlito was drafted back to the SmackDown brand.[41]
On September 12, he re-debuted on the brand turning face, forming a tag team with his brother, Primo. They defeated WWE Tag Team Champions Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder in the match to gain their first victory as a team. Two weeks later, both teams competed in a title match, with The Colóns winning to become tag team champions. Subsequently, Carlito and Primo entered a feud with World Tag Team Champions John Morrison and The Miz. At WrestleMania XXV, The Colóns defeated Miz and Morrison in a tag team unification match, becoming the first team to simultaneously hold both sets of the company's Tag Team Championships since their creation.[42]
On April 15, 2009, both Carlito and Primo were drafted back to the Raw brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft. At The Bash, the duo dropped the Unified Tag Team Titles to Edge and Chris Jericho in a Triple Threat Tag Team Match also involving Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes. Carlito and Primo invoked their rematch clause the next night on Raw, but were unsuccessful.
On the July 6 episode of Raw, following their loss to Edge and Jericho, Carlito turned heel by attacking Primo. At Night of Champions, Carlito challenged for the United States Championship in a Six-Pack Challenge, which also invovled Primo, but neither of them were able to win the title. On the August 3 episode of Raw, Carlito defeated Primo to end their feud. On the August 13 edition of WWE Superstars, Carlito teamed with Rosa Mendes to defeat Kofi Kingston and Mickie James. Mendes would then become Carlito's manager until she was traded to the ECW brand in September.
After a two month hiatus, on the November 30 episode of Raw, Carlito returned to confront John Cena, after Cena challenged Sheamus to come out to the ring, telling him everyone on the roster were tired of him and that Sheamus was there representative of what the roster believed and then tried to spit apple in Cena's face, which led to him getting hit with Cena's finisher, the Attitude Adjustment. The following week, Carlito was defeated by Cena.
On the February 2010, Carlito was announced as one of the eight WWE Pros for the first season of WWE NXT. On the February 22 episode of Raw, Carlito was defeated by Christian in a Money in the Bank Qualifying match. The next night on WWE NXT, Carlito teamed with his NXT Rookie Michael Tarver in a losing effort against Christian and his NXT Rookie Heath Slater. On the May 2 edition of WWE Superstars, during his match with Primo, Carlito would stop the match and told Primo they shouldn't fight when the crowd cheers for two brothers to fight each other. Primo would agree and reunite with his brother, turing heel in the process. On the May 10 episode of Raw, Carlito and Primo attacked R-Truth for Ted DiBiase, who paid them afterwards. On May 21, Colón was released due to a violation of the WWE Wellness Program and refusal to attend a rehabilitation facility for a reported addiction to pain killers.
Following his release, Colón began accepting dates to work for independent promotions. The first promotion to include him in its roster was World Wrestling Today.[43] On July 11, 2010, Colón was booked in a match called "The Three Faces of Fear" at WWC's Aniversario 2010 which also involved Booker T.[44] The concept of this contest was that he would face three unknown adversaries successively.[44] Colón also performed on a second date of this event, working under a "tweener" concept, representing a morally ambiguous team without clear allegiance. On August 7, 2010, he made his debut in Lucha Libre USA's live shows, wrestling as "Carlitos".[45] Carlito returned to WWC on September 25, 2010 at the "Septiembre Negro" event, where he defeated "El Triple Mega Campeon" Ricky Banderas. On November 27, 2010, Colón defeated Shelton Benjamin to win the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship at the Crossfire event. He made his first title defense against Ricky Banderas at WWC's last show of the year—Lockout. On December 2010, Carlito participated in Inoki Genome Federation in Japan, where he was pinned by Japanese superstar Kendo Kashin. On January 8, 2011, Colón lost the Universal Heavyweight Championship to Banderas, following interference from Shane Sewell.[46] In February 2011, NWA Southwest in Texas booked Carlito in a match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against it's current holder Adam Pearce. On March 4, 2011, Colón, billed as Carlito Caribbean Cool, made his debut for the Mexican promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA), defeating Decnnis, Jack Evans and Ozz in a four–way match to advance to the Rey de Reyes tournament finals at the Rey de Reyes pay-per-view.[47] In the finals of the tournament, Carlito was defeated by Extreme Tiger.[48] On June 4, 2011, Carlito returned to WWC and defeated Steve Corino to win the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship for the thirteenth time. On July 17, 2011 at Aniversario 2011 Carlito made his first defense of the title against Abyss. On October 28, 2011 Carlito returned to WWC to join his brother Primo to face "The Precious One" Gilbert and his cousin Orlando Colon (Epico), next day he defends the WWC Universal Heavyweight Champion against Chris Masters. On October 31, 2011 Carlito was booked by a Mexican promotion in the event Halloween Lucha Tour in Matamoros, Tamaulipas in which made tag with Chavo Guerrero and Rikishi Phatu to face Mil Mascaras, Dos Caras and Cassandro. They repeat the fight next two days in different places replacing Cassandro with El Hijo de Canek. On November 11, 2011 Carlito defeated Chris Masters in Puerto Rico with a backstabber. On Feb. 24, 2012, Carlito will job to "The Hybrid" Sean Carr of Binghamton, N.Y., at the American Legion Post 80 in Binghamton.