Carlito debut

This is from a time I wasn’t watching much, but I caught it on the Network. Carlito gets the spotlight in a long promo to start the show against Cena, then "the rookie" puts on a veteran performance in the 10+ minute main event. It announced a new star and let Cena move on to bigger things. What happened?

​Cena went on to become a huge star over the next decade, duh.

​Oh, sorry, you meant Carlito. They actually did a SECOND coronation of him after the initial brand split, moving him to RAW and putting the IC title on him in his first match there, which is why it’s so frustrating that he so aggressively did not give a shit about the business. Vince pushed him over and OVER trying to light something under him because they’ve been desperately trying to create the next Latino star for that market for years now, but Carlito just didn’t have any kind of drive to succeed outside of his home country. Hell, even today they’re trying to get something out of the Shining Stars as a by-product of the Carlito push. To this day I have no idea what they saw in the guy that would make anyone think he would be a top-level heel. ​
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