Carlito (wrestler)

Carlos Edwin Colón Coates Jr. (born February 21, 1979) is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler.

He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Carlito as a member of the Latino World Order.

He is a member of the Colón wrestling family, being the son of Carlos Colón.

Carlos Edwin Colón Coates Jr. was born in the Santurce district of San Juan on February 21, 1979, the son of Puerto Rican professional wrestler and World Wrestling Council founder Carlos Colón and his Canadian-born wife Nancy.

He has three younger siblings, including fellow wrestlers Eddie (best known in the WWE as Primo) and Stacy Colón, both of whom performed in the World Wrestling Council.

A second sister, Melissa, did not enter the wrestling business.

Other members of Colón's family have also been involved in the World Wrestling Council, including his cousin Orlando (best known in WWE as Epico) and uncle José.

Colón graduated from the Jesuit school Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola in 1997.

Unsatisfied with his physical conditioning, he joined a gym at the age of 11.

He has said that he only did so for exercise and did not originally intend to become a wrestler.

It was not until completing his college education that he decided to train, after noticing that his condition was on par with the wrestlers despite his age.

Despite this, Colón initially expected to retire within a decade and go on to run a private business.

He has admitted that, during this initial stage, he received peer pressure to match the accomplishments of his father.

He made his debut for World Wrestling Council (WWC) in 1999, winning the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship 17 times and the WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship once.

During the early years of his career, he made appearances for the X Wrestling Federation and Funking Conservatory, winning his first international championship for the second.

In July 1999, Colón began working in the World Wrestling Council as a cameraman, then known by his actual nickname "Carly", being subtly introduced to the television programming.

Soon after his first appearance, the promotion's main heel (or villainous) wrestler, Ray González, took an interest in him after learning his identity.

After weeks of being pestered, Colón responded by punching González, which resulted in a beat-down by the dominant heel stable, La Familia del Milenio.

At Aniversario 1999, Colón interrupted a match between González and Colón Sr., aiding his father by interrupting while wielding a shovel, which became his trademark weapon early in his career.

The feud between Colón Sr. and González continued, with him interfering on his father's behalf.

The final match of this feud concluded in the same manner that the first Aniversario encounter.

Soon after, vignettes depicting him training with Isaac Rosario began airing in WWC's show, Superestrellas de la Lucha Libre.

Colón made his in-ring debut in January 2000 by defeating Félix Tapia, a jobber and member of La Familia.

He was immediately booked in a major push, defeating almost the entirety of the heel locker room during the following two weeks.

Despite being active for less than three months, he earned the support of the WWC fanbase.

On January 29, 2000, Colón defeated González to become the youngest wrestler to win the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship.

Following his victory, he was engulfed by fans and carried to the locker room by the Ejercíto de la Justicia, the main fan-favorite stable in the promotion.

González countered by creating a coalition of wrestlers that had feuded with Colón Sr. in the past, led by Hercules Ayala and Ramón Álvarez.

On February 19, 2000, Colón dropped the Universal Heavyweight Championship to González, following intervention from Álvarez.

This led to a double feud against Álvarez and Ayala, from which he emerged victorious.

During this time frame, he also wrestled One Man Gang, who was involved a storyline where a $10,000 bounty was placed by La Familia to "end his career".

In 2003, Colón signed a developmental contract with WWE.

He worked in its developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) for 16 months, mostly wrestling in tag team matches while making appearances in WWC.

In October 2004, he made his main roster debut.

He went on to become a one-time United States Champion and one-time Intercontinental Champion, and was part of both the Raw and SmackDown brands.

He is the only wrestler to win a championship on two separate debuts in WWE and the second Puerto Rican wrestler (after Pedro Morales) to hold the Intercontinental Championship.

At WrestleMania 25, Colón and his brother Primo unified the WWE Tag Team Championship and World Tag Team Championship as the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship before leaving WWE in May 2010.

In 2021, Colón briefly returned to WWE, first as an entrant in the Royal Rumble and then the following night on Raw.

He then returned in May 2023 at Backlash to assist Bad Bunny and the Latino World Order (LWO).

Following this, Colón re-signed with WWE, but it was not until Fastlane in October when he reappeared as the LWO's mystery tag team partner and was subsequently assigned to the SmackDown brand.