Sell me on Carlito

[Papacita 0]

Ok, I've heard a bunch of people on this forum say that Carlito's got the potential to be a breakout star in WWE, and although I can't say I've seen a lot of his Smackdown work, at this point I'm not seeing what's so special about him. First off, his look makes it a little hard for me to take him seriously as a wrestler, and to top it off he's pretty bland in the ring. Most of the praise I've seen is for his charisma, mic work and what not, but to be honest I'm not seeing that either, as something about his promo delivery just turns me off (sounds too fake to me). Now I'm not trying to knock him, because he did give me one of my few mark out moments of this year with his Cabana segment with RVD ("You're injured...and Carlito likes it that way...*wham* ), but other than that, I'm just not seeing what other people are seeing in him.

 

So what's your take on him? Why is/isn't Carlito great?

[Lord of The Curry 0]

He's not great.

 

Fuck, he's not even good. The most positive thing I can say about the guy is that I've laughed at his mic work occasionally.

[Guest news_gimmick]

So far on Raw I have not been impressed with his work. I can't quite put my finger on it, but he is coming across as more bland than compared to his work on Smackdown. I think one reason is right now he is being used more as a wrestler than just a mouthpiece for someone, which is ass backwards in the way he should be utilized. For about 6 months or so on SmackDown he didn't wrestle, he was just used in a non-wrestling role as a thorn in the side of Teddy Long, and he got over this way and was very entertaining IMO. So now that he is in a larger, more wrestling oriented role, he is not doing so well and he needs to drop the title soon.

 

Now as for his potential, he still has some. I mean he is still young and could still develop into a decent wrestler if he puts effort into it and develops an actual moveset. As of now he is nothign but a joke because I can't think of 5 moves of offense that he has actually done and I don't even recall him having a finisher ever. I just think he is being misused on Raw and thats why he appears to be bland and boring. Imagine that, WWE misusing someone.

 

 

Tom

[Guest Trecko]

He just...is. From the moment those promos were being run for him. His delivery IS different, but I like it, and the accent makes up for it. His facial expressions are CLASSIC. I don't think I've ever NOT enjoyed seeing him on TV. I dunno, maybe this is a little vague and not much, but...shit, I like dude. He's...he's...cool.

[Dangerous A 0]

Basically, Carlito is like Cena-lite. All mic work, no in ring work. Personally I think his selling and bump timing isn't terrible, but he has zero offense to speak of.

[Guest news_gimmick]

He is good at bumps, but his recent matches with Benjamin have been hard to watch because it looks so unbelievable. Watching these matches you can just imagine Benjamin is able to handily beat him like he did to Maven at the beginning of the year. Yet what little offense Carlito does is enough to stun Sheldon for long periods of time, and it looks like shit. So until Carlito learns some real offense he will not be considered great or even good in the ring. They really need to stick with him in the cabana segments and nothing else right now.

 

 

Tom

[Da Maintenance Man 0]

I don't know. The last memorable match I remember Carlito having was with Rey Mysterio back on Smackdown after he won the U.S. title. He displayed some nice in-ring skills & pyschology in that match. Now he's...meh. He's pretty good on the mic though.

[Golgo 13 0]

The apple spitting thing is entertaining, but that's all he's good for. He's utterly worthless otherwise. The poor people are deluded. Due to a slightly entertaining character which the writers happen to put a little more effort into pushing, he just looks like a better option than most.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

I'd probably put him up there as one of the worst in-ring guys the company has currently. His mic work is solid but overrated to shit.

[Guest Fishyswa]

He's a WWE heel, he wrestles the same match as about 13 other guys, once he becomes a face for the first time, builds up an actual moveset and get's put in a situation to have a match beyond "me heel you good guy", he'll have a lot of fans.

 

It's more so the intangibles, charisma, genetic's, experience in a top spot, look(aside from the cartoonish fro he's got a great look), once it all clicks I don't see any reason to think he wouldn't be big.

[PLAGIARISM! 0]

The Honky Tonk Man style of heel won't work as well ever again, and that's the only route I could ever see this guy taking.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

He's a WWE heel, he wrestles the same match as about 13 other guys, once he becomes a face for the first time, builds up an actual moveset and get's put in a situation to have a match beyond "me heel you good guy", he'll have a lot of fans.

 

It's more so the intangibles, charisma, genetic's, experience in a top spot, look(aside from the cartoonish fro he's got a great look), once it all clicks I don't see any reason to think he wouldn't be big.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Funny that you mention his genetics because on RAW JR mentioned how somebody with Carlito's history wouldn't get himself DQ'd like that. When the fuck did they ever on-camera bring up Carlito's family history? JR was saying it like it was a known fact.

[Angle-plex 0]

He doesn't have the "look". He moveset is bland. His psychology is non-existent. His mic skills, while occasionally having a funny line, leave something to be desired.

 

He's also never had a good match, and barely any watchable matches. He doesn't deserve the push he is getting and is probably my least favorite wrestler at the moment.

[cabbageboy 0]

Carlito was at his most over when he was just doing the Cabana on a weekly basis and didn't wrestle. There's a reason for that, he sucks mega dick in the ring. I said it on another thread, but how can a guy get pushed when he cannot A) do scientific wrestling B) aerial wrestling C) brawl or D) work the crowd in a match. Tell me how anyone can get pushed without doing any of this. Cena can't wrestle for shit but at least he can do C and D. Then again the only guy I can think of currently who can do all 4 is maybe Eddie.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

SummerSlam is really going to expose him in terms of crowd reaction. I fear for that match because Benjamin, as good as he is, will not be able to keep the crowd interested for any length of time.

[Dangerous A 0]

but how can a guy get pushed when he cannot A) do scientific wrestling B) aerial wrestling C) brawl or D) work the crowd in a match.

 

 

Do you know what company you are watching? This is WWE. They will push people who have no business in the ring for the simple fact that they are muscular and/or tall. Being good in the ring doesn't equal push in Vince's world.

 

Shit, Hassan can't do A through D either and they will probrably put the belt on him at Summerslam just so Vince can thumb his nose at the media for making a big stink about the whole terrorism bit.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

Carlito possesses a decent look and an on-the-ground, cheap heel attack game that will keep him healthy. His charisma is good. Thus, he will be pushed. Since moving to Raw, he has been exposed.

[Guest jackie fargo]

but how can a guy get pushed when he cannot A) do scientific wrestling B) aerial wrestling C) brawl or D) work the crowd in a match.

 

 

Do you know what company you are watching? This is WWE. They will push people who have no business in the ring for the simple fact that they are muscular and/or tall. Being good in the ring doesn't equal push in Vince's world.

 

Shit, Hassan can't do A through D either and they will probrably put the belt on him at Summerslam just so Vince can thumb his nose at the media for making a big stink about the whole terrorism bit.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

I believe Carlito has the perfect persona, mic work, wrestling gestures, interview timing and the ability to have the rare ability to have half the audience like him and the other half love him.

 

He could be in 3 years be a top tier level performer, He has steven Regal expressions, Jericho mic ability, his gimmick has many different levels it can progress to over a period of time-

[Golgo 13 0]

WWE heel style aside, I'm sure the others from this mold have the decency to do an actual move once in a while.

 

Carlito's young, but he's essentially been around wrestling all his life and had the benefit of Carlos being his father. It's not like he got involved late or something like that, because then he'd have an excuse for sucking.

 

One would think he'd show a natural acumen for wrestling by now, but as it stands, he looks unnatural and just plain awkward as fuck out there. Some things just can't be helped and if he doesn't show something during this push of his, I doubt he ever will. I mean, he's not Erik Watts at this stage, but he's not much better.

[justcoz 0]

I'm not overly impressed with him but I do see a lot of potential and I don't consider him terrible. I've liked his matches with Shelton and the cheap endings really make you laugh at his character. His look makes people look at the television and it's refreshing to see someone his size get a push even if though they don't look like Chris Masters. Prior to his debut, Meltzer had acted like there was no way that he would have the personality to pull off this type of character. Well, he did. So I'm not ruling out that he can't improve in the ring either. I'd rather see him working with people the caliber of Shelton Benjamin at this point in his career then Cena or Big Show. Crowds seem to take to him, if MSG and NY are popping for you, you are ok.

[Shooting Star 0]

Eddie is the best thing to ever come out of the Colon family. Not to put Carlitos and Jr. but Eddie rules...but he's still too young for WWE.

[Just John 0]

The best match I've seen Carlito in was his first match against Cena, which is sad. It probably wasn't even that good, but at least I was interested in his character at that point. I don't mind him talking, but like pretty much everyone else has said, his wrestling leaves much to be desired.

 

Oh, and he DESPERATELY needs new tights. His current tights are gay at best.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

The demise of the male manager has killed him. I really think he could do very well in a Slick or Johnny Polo-type role, and I had no problem with him doing the Cabana every week on Smackdown and dicking around with Big Show. But since the move to RAW they made the exact same mistake that they made during his initial Smackdown run before the injury. They turned him into a wrestler, and he just doesn't have the talent for it. He's down there with Masters, Viscera & Snitsky as far as wrestling skills go, and at least they are somewhat menacing. I really can't see any upside with him over his former bodyguard other than a better gimmick, yet Morgan is the one that gets fired. This company baffles me at times.

 

If he only did his interview segment, and wrestled in occasional matches where he would get squashed, he would be fine, but they aren't using him properly and he's got no main event potential at all. He just can't compete at that level.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

He has a great (albeit unique) look, can work the stick and has an entertaining persona. Some people just get over on intangibles, and I think that's the case with Carlito. I mean Cena's not much in the ring and he's the most over guy in the company.

 

He still has time to improve in the ring. It doesn't bode well that he has spent his entire life around wrestling and was a main eventer in Puerto Rico already, but that doesn't mean we should shut the door on him. Let him keep learning on the fly.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

I don't understand this great look that Carlito has. He looks really scrawny to me. Not everyone has to have the body of Batista, but it helps if it looks like you can be competitive. The Cruisers like Rey have a speed advantage so most of them don't bother me too much, but Carlito just looks like a normal guy or one of those noname jobbers you see on Velocity. Orlando Jordan has a much better look than Carlito and is better in the ring, but he doesn't get nearly the attention that Carlito gets.

[Boon 0]

I don't understand this great look that Carlito has.  He looks really scrawny to me.  Not everyone has to have the body of Batista, but it helps if it looks like you can be competitive.  The Cruisers like Rey have a speed advantage so most of them don't bother me too much, but Carlito just looks like a normal guy or one of those noname jobbers you see on Velocity.  Orlando Jordan has a much better look than Carlito and is better in the ring, but he doesn't get nearly the attention that Carlito gets.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

That's because Orlando Jordan has the charisma of a pet rock.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

But he hangs out with JBL who might be the most charismatic guy on the roster after Cena.

[Boon 0]

But he hangs out with JBL who might be the most charismatic guy on the roster after Cena.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Hanging out with somebody who is over doesn't always get you attention.

 

see also Shannon Moore, Charlie Haas

[The Niggardly King 0]

I like his clown fro. That's about it.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

Hanging out with somebody who is over doesn't always get you attention.

 

It worked for X-Pac, Road Dogg, Billy Gunn and most of the NWO.