When Carlito saw his WWE run end 14 years ago, there was wonder if we’d ever seen “Caribbean Cool” again. Thankfully for fans the answer would be yes. The popular performer returned for a few appearances including the Royal Rumble in 2021, but the seeds for his current run were planted in 2203 during Backlash in Puerto Rico. 

Carlito brought the electric crowd to his feet when he made a surprise appearance during the Bad Bunny and Damian Priest San Juan street fight. The live reaction coupled with the social media buzz and the fact Carlito was still in tremendous shape certainly caught the attention of WWE officials. Fast forward to today and Carlito has been signed full-time and a part of the Judgment Day. 

“It was a weird pairing at first,” he said. “Everyone was asking what is Carlito doing with the Judgment Day. It’s kind of like a little family. We fight and have little in-fights but at the end of the day we love each other. At the end of the day, that’s the dynamic you see on TV.” 

Despite having a short segment or two some weeks, he maximizes his minutes. Something the second-generation talent learned to do as the well-traveled veteran. The 45-year-old takes pride in lending a hand to emerging members of the WWE roster. 

“The locker room is great,” he said. “I’m one of the elder statesmen now, which is weird. WheN I was first here, I was the younger guy. I’m one of the older guys, so it’s cool to help out and guide the new crop of talent.” 

Carlito has also appreciated the diversity across the board on the shows. Not to mention the true global reach. 

“I feel it’s an actual world company now,” he said. “We have talent from all over the place. We’re visiting more parts of the world now. Doing PLEs [all over]. I think it truly encompasses what [WWE] envisioned a long time ago. A world company.” 

At this stage of his career he has appreciated the little things like being in WWE video games. He notices the advancement, especially compared to when he first started with the company. 

“The graphics got a lot better,” he said. “My character looks a lot better these days. Definitely, a lot of advancement in that part.” 

As far as what he sees for his WWE career, for him, it’s about having fun. “I want to enjoy the years I have left,” he said. “Have a good time and hopefully ride off into the sunset.” 

Given his mindset and conditioning, Carlito is far from his last WWE apple. Speaking of which, if you’ve ever wondered what brand of the fruit the Raw superstar likes best, he isn’t picky. 

“They all work. They all spit pretty good. It doesn’t matter what color or brand.” 

Preorder “WWE 2K25” here. 

Attorneys for Janel Grant are amending her lawsuit against World Wrestling Entertainment, Vince McMahon and former WWE executive John Laurinaitis.

Ann Callis, an attorney for Grant, sent an email to plantiffs’ counsel on Dec. 16 stating they would be amending the lawsuit by Jan. 15. The email was included in an exhibit filed with a motion for status conference made on Thursday, Jan. 2.

Grant filed her initial complaint against McMahon, WWE and Laurinaitis in January 2024. The case was placed in a stay in May for six months at the request of federal prosecutors. According to the Wall Street Journal, McMahon has been under investigation of a federal grand jury in Manhattan for sex assault, rape and sex trafficking.

In an interview with SEScoops in November, Callis said other women had come forward since Grant filed her lawsuit. She said attorneys were vetting several women and could amend Grant’s suit to include other alleged victims.

McMahon and his wife Linda, who is expected to be Donald Trump’s nominee for the Department of Education post with the Cabinet, were sued in October by five alleged survivors of the 1980s WWF Ring Boy Scandal in Maryland. The civil suit is currently on hold while the Maryland Supreme Court considers whether a state law voiding statute of limitations regarding negligence in sex assault cases is constitutional.

Attorneys for McMahon re-filed his motion on Dec. 23 to appeal the Grant case to arbitration, per the non-disclosure agreement Grant and McMahon signed.

Variety, the long-running magazine covering the entertainment industry, named All-Elite Wrestling owner Tony Khan and several members of WWE parent company TKO, including Nick Khan to its “Dealmakers 2024” in an article published on the magazine’s website on Wednesday.

Khan, AEW and the TKO board were one of the few non-agency or law firms named to the Dealmakers list this year, which included Audible and several lobbying and entertainment law firms.

Tony Khan was credited with AEW’s new three-year deal with Warner Bros. Discovery, five years after the company aired its first show on WBD television.

In October, five years to the week after Khan launched professional wrestling promotion AEW as a direct competitor to Vince McMahon’s long-dominant WWE, he closed a multi-year media rights deal with Warner Bros. Discovery, worth a reported $185 million a year, that calls for AEW’s shows and events to be broadcast on TBS and TNT and stream on Max. The company is now valued at more than $2 billion, making it the third-most-valuable combat sports company in the world.

Ain’t bragging if it’s true: “Our new arrangement signifies that AEW will make history as the first professional wrestling promotion to simulcast events weekly on top cable channels and a top streaming platform,” says Khan.

The article called 2024 a year where “deals weren’t as plentiful or as rich, but necessity being the mother of invention, often more innovative.”

Longtime World Wrestling Entertainment executive and president Nick Khan, along with fellow TKO executives Ariel Emanuel, Mark Shapiro and Andrew Schleimer, were also named. Variety cited the Endeavor’s 2023 acquisition of WWE and WWE’s deal with Netflix.

Last year, Endeavor merged Ultimate Fighting Championship with World Wrestling Entertainment under the TKO Group Holdings banner. In January 2024, TKO’s leadership quadrumvirate closed a $5.2 billion, 10-year deal to make Netflix the exclusive home of WWE’s flagship show “Raw” in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Latin America and other territories beginning in January 2025. As part of the pact, Netflix will be the home for all WWE shows and specials outside the U.S. from that date forward, giving roughly 80% of international territories immediate access to 100% its content, with the rest of the globe filling out their WWE lineups as outstanding deals expire.

“While the money is extraordinarily important, the downstream impact and ancillary benefits to being with the distributor and just south of 300 million homes globally was something that got us very excited,” says Schleimer.

Other members of the list included:

• Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld, the second-largest lobbying firm in the U.S.
• Alter Kendrick and Baron, music lawyers who closed $1 billion in publishing and mater recording acquisitions in 2024.
• Audible’s executive team
• Perry, Plashuk, Lefebvre and Hill of Covington and Burling, law firm specializing in entertainment acquisitions
• David Wright Tremaine, litigation law firm now advising on major entertainment projects
• Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein Lezcano Bobb and Dang, entertainment law firm
• Nina Shaw of Del Shaw Moonves Tnaka Finkelstein Lezcano Bobb and Dang
• DLA Piper, Hollywood legal firm
• Francisco Arias of Fifth Season
• Fox Rotschild, lawyers and talent reps

The magazine credited those on the list for maneuvering the economic ups and downs of the streaming bubble, COVID-19 and inflation, as well as strikes by the writers and actors unions.