When Carlito was advertised for Legends Night on Monday Night RAW in January, and never showed up, some fans wondered if the former multi time-champion would ever return to the company. Then at the Royal Rumble, Carlito was a big surprise entrant, making his return to the WWE ring after more than a decade.
It remains to be seen if or how long Carlito will be a regular competitor on RAW again, but it's good to see him back. Throughout the years, he's had some great success but also some moments that were pretty forgettable.
7 FINAL YEAR/NXT MENTOR
In mid-2009, Carlito turned heel on his brother Primo after they lost the WWE Unified Tag Team Titles to Edge and Chris Jericho. They had a quick feud before Carlito was off TV due to an injury. He returned on November 30, 2009, to confront John Cena to almost no reaction. He lost to Cena the next week and floundered until becoming a mentor to Michael Tarver during the first season of NXT (the beginning of the Nexus angle). In May 2010, he was released due to a Wellness Program violation, bringing his first WWE run to a sad end.
6 SECOND HEEL RUN ON RAW
After turning heel on Ric Flair (and losing to him) in 2007, Carlito was put into a random feud with Hacksaw Jim Duggan and The Sandman, before moving onto a battle with Triple H, who was returning from a long injury absence and soundly defeated King Booker T at Summerslam 2007.
The Triple H feud did no favors for Carlito, as he was constantly beaten and humiliated by The Game, losing match after match. The only real highlight for Carlito during this time was a ladder match against Jeff Hardy for the Intercontinental Title at Raw's 15th-anniversary special. He would fall even further down to the card, feuding against Hornswoggle, with saw him lose cleanly and participating in a backstage skit where he ran into a door drawn on the wall ala a Looney Tunes episode.
5 TEAMING WITH RIC FLAIR
In early 2007, WWE ran an angle where Ric Flair ripped in Carlito for leaving the show before watching the main event match. In the promo, Flair ripped into Carlito for not having any passion for his career.
Somehow, this eventually led to the team two teaming. While the duo had a little bit of success and a few shots at the World Tag Team Championships, they would only last a few months before Carlito turned on Flair after losing a number one contenders match against Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. If it was meant to give Carlito a rib, it didn't work.
4 TEAMING WITH HIS BROTHER
In mid-2008, Carlito began teaming with his brother Primo, and almost immediately they won the WWE Tag Team Titles, which were then exclusive to the Smackdown brand.
Although they didn't defend the titles too many times, they managed to hold onto them all the way until Wrestlemania XXV, where they defeated John Morrison and The Miz to become the first-ever Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions. Eventually, as with most tag teams, WWE broke them up to feud with each other.
3 FIRST FACE RUN IN 2006
In early-2006, Carlito began to team with Chris Masters on a semi-regular basis, eventually entering into a feud with then-World Tag Team Champions Kane and The Big Show.
After losing their title match at Wrestlemania, Carlito turned on Masters and became a babyface. He would have a number of exciting matches with Jeff Hardy, Randy Orton, and John Morrison, and was paired up with Trish Stratus as a love interest.
2 MOVING TO RAW IN 2005
After moving to RAW during the 2005 Draft, Carlito immediately made an impact by defeating Shelton Benjamin for the Intercontinental Title in his debut match on the show. He would hold it throughout the summer and be involved with matches against the likes of Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels.
It was during this time he first aligned with Masters, and they lost to Flair and Triple H, right before The Game turned on his former mentor and Evolution stablemate. In January 2006, he eliminated Michaels, Kane, and Masters in an Elimination Chamber match, before being the last man eliminated by winner John Cena.
1 SMACKDOWN DEBUT, U.S. CHAMPION
In fall 2004, a number of vignettes began advertising the impending debut of Carlito Caribbean Cool. The superstar was shown bullying a number of people he didn't consider cool. He would chew an apple, then spit it in their face, easily making a character that was not likable at all.
He immediately made an impact by facing and defeating John Cena for the United States Title in his first match on Smackdown. Even after losing the title back, Carlito was a featured superstar, and even picked up a win against The Big Show with the help of his new bodyguard Matt Morgan. However, that storyline was dropped when he was moved to RAW in the draft.