Carly Colon

Carlos Edwin ("Carly") Colón, Jr. (born February 21 1979 in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler performing for World Wrestling Entertainment on the RAW brand, as well as the World Wrestling Council under the ring name Carlito. He is of African, Canadian, and Puerto Rican descent. He is the son of Carlos Colón.

As Carlito, his gimmick involves him, when faced with someone he deemed "not cool", taking a large bite out of an apple, chewing it and then spitting it into their face. He also frequently uses underhanded heel tactics to win matches, including his matches where he won his first United States and Intercontinental Championships. He is easily recognizable by his very large and distinct afro haircut.

After winning the WWE United States Championship in his first televised match, he became one of a few WWE wrestlers who have won a championship belt on their debut in World Wrestling Entertainment.

Career

World Wrestling Council and Ohio Valley Wrestling

Colon continues to compete in Puerto Rico's World Wrestling Council, mostly on special occasions. After holding a feud with his brother, Eddy Colon, he reconciled with his family on the "Camino a la Gloria" event April, 2006 in Carolina, Puerto Rico and became a face again, keeping his "cool" character. Using his WWE "Caribbean Cool" gimmick, Carlito had become a much hated heel at WWC, especially after spitting in the face of his own father, Puerto Rican legend Carlos Colon, on the "Llamado de la Sangre" event November, 2004 in Caguas, Puerto Rico. However, his successful run at WWE has made him a loved wrestler in PR, getting cheers in recent events.

On March 26 2005, Carlito made his return to the ring (after a forced recess due to a shoulder injury) in a match against his brother in Caguas.

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper defeated Carlito Caribbean Cool on May 20 2005, at the Friday Madness event, held at the Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. The match was inspired by the events that took place at WrestleMania 21, when Carlito attacked Piper on the Piper's Pit segment.

Carlito appeared on a World Wrestling Council show in Carolina, Puerto Rico on March 15, 2006. He defeated Tyson Tomko in a singles match, and hosted Carlito's Cabana with special guests Carlos Colon, Sr. and Victor Jovica. At the end of the show Carlito surprised the crowd with a sudden face turn, defending his father and his brother when they were attacked by the heel stable led by Jovica and Rico Suave.

In June of 2003 Carly Colon signed a developmental contract with WWE and was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), WWE's training territory. In OVW, he was briefly managed by Kenny Bolin. On December 15, Carly was placed in a special dark match before RAW where he teamed with Brent Dail to face Bart Gunn and Jim Steele.

During his time in OVW, Colon was still wrestling in WWC. In April of 2004, WWE prevented a scheduled match between him and TNA's Abyss, which would have taken place in Puerto Rico.

World Wrestling Entertainment

On October 7 , 2004, Colon made his debut on SmackDown! as Carlito Caribbean Cool and defeated John Cena to capture the WWE United States Championship. He would be the United States Champion for a little longer than a month (about a month and a week), before separating his shoulder and subsequently losing the title to Cena. He briefly teamed up with his enforcer Jesùs. While injured, Carlito had a comical rivalry with SmackDown! general manager Theodore Long.

2005

Carlito made a high profile appearance at WrestleMania 21, interrupting "Piper's Pit." After insulting and attempting to attack both "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and his guest, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Carlito received a Stone Cold Stunner. Carlito later faced Piper at the "Friday Madness" event in WWC.

Carlito's appearance on Piper's Pit led to his own interview segment, Carlito's Cabana, starting in April 2005. Carlito feuded with Big Show before moving to RAW in the 2005 Draft Lottery, winning the Intercontinental Title from Shelton Benjamin in his debut match. He retained the title in several rematches, but lost it to Ric Flair on September 18 2005 at WWE's Unforgiven event.

Carlito lost to Mankind at the second Taboo Tuesday event on November 1, 2005. Mankind finished Carlito off with Mr. Socko (for this match, Foley added an Carlito-style afro to Mr. Socko).

The following month at Survivor Series, Carlito was represented Team RAW vs. Team SmackDown! in a classic, 10-man Survivor Series tag team match. Carlito was eliminated by John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL).

2006

Carlito then began regularly tagging with "The Masterpiece" Chris Masters. The two tended to be at odds when together because Carlito pinned Masters in an Elimination Chamber at New Year's Revolution and elimated Masters in the 2006 Royal Rumble Match. Eventually, the young tag team was awarded a championship match against Kane and Big Show for the World Tag Team Titles at WrestleMania 22. Carlito and Masters lost in the opening bout after a miscommunication. During the confrontation, Carlito received face-like remarks.

Carlito eventually did officially turn face when he turned on heel Chris Masters after Masters' squash match on RAW. In the later weeks, it would seem that Carlito had become a tweener by attacking face Eugene and heel Matt Striker. Following this he would appear mainly in backstage segments with WWE Diva Maria and compete on Heat.

He would later be moved into a feud with then-Intercontinental Champion Shelton Benjamin and Johnny Nitro starting with a victory over Benjamin on the June 5, 2006, edition of RAW but a loss to Nitro the following week.

Carlito, Nitro, and Benjamin were then scheduled for a Triple Threat match at Vengeance for Benjamin's Intercontinental Championship. The match ended when Carlito reversed a neckbreaker attempt by Benjamin into a Backcracker, Nitro pulled Carlito out of the ring, and pinned Benjamin, making Nitro the new Intercontinental Champion.

He would then move into a feud with Nitro and Melina with Trish Stratus as his partner. Carlito and Stratus defeated Nitro and Melina in a Mixed Tag Match at Saturday Night's Main Event.

Carlito defeats Shelton benjamin on RAW for the number 1 contender's spot using the ropes.

Finishing and signature moves

Backcracker (Double knee backbreaker)
Rolling cutter
Overdrive - Before shoulder injury in late 2004
Double springboard corkscrew somersault senton splash
Lifting reverse STO
DDT
Spinebuster
Springboard flying back elbow smash
Knee Lift
Moonsault
Hurricanrana
Figure Four Leglock

Personal life

Carlito is the son of Puerto Rican legend Carlos Colon, the brother of fellow professional wrestler Eddie Colon and brother of Stacy Colon who has teamed up with Carlito in a few wrestling matches in the WWC. He is also cousins with Orlando Colon, an up and coming independent pro wrestler.

His decision to jump to the WWE when the opportunity arose was a controversial one amongst the local Puerto Rican wrestling community. Since his father Carlos Colon is a legendary wrestling promoter, many fans and insiders believed that it was only natural for Carlito to take the family business from his father one day, but when Carlito chose to go to the WWE, he was not only criticized by the locals, he was also labeled as someone who had "sold out" his Puerto Rican wrestling traditions over for the "flash and flare" of the WWE. Carlito spoke of this in an interview with the Calgary Sun in which he stated "I didn't 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".

According to Dave Meltzer, "The reason Carlito is so fluent in the English language is because his mother is Canadian. Carlos wrestled in several Canadian territories early in his career and they grew up speaking English at home." (as stated in the July 18 2005 issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter).

Carlito is left-handed.

Carlito's theme music to promote the Wreckless Intent album is, "Quien Soy Yo (Who I Am)" by Kaballon but he has not debuted this entrance music yet. His actual entrance music is called "Cool", which was featured on the WWE ThemeAddict CD of 2005.