In 2004, Carlito made his startling WWE debut by defeating John Cena in his first match to win the WWE United States Championship. On the Insight podcast, Carlito recalled believing Cena was pranking him upon his call-up to WWE’s main roster.
“I first thought that Cena had pranked me because as soon as I got there he was the nicest guy to me… Then we get in the ring, the bell rang, and he kicked me in the stomach so hard, that’s like, oh, okay I see what’s going on here.”
Carlito shared that it was “great” to defeat Cena in his debut, in what would be John’s final match for months. To explain his break from WWE to film The Marine, WWE crafted the narrative that Cena had been stabbed in a night club. Though Carlito and his then-bodyguard Jesus were suspects, the Cool Superstar denied doing the devilish deed.
“I don’t know what the official story is nowadays, they changed it over the year… I don’t think it was me that stabbed him, or my my buddy Jesus. I don’t think it was Jesus, or maybe it was, I don’t know.”
Cena would return to action after weeks away to take back the U.S. title from Carlito before winning his first of 16 WWE World Championships the next year. And with Cena embarking on his final year in the ring, fans can’t count out Carlito getting payback for the ‘prank’ by Big Match John early into his career.
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