Carlito originally parted ways with WWE in 2010. Following a brief return in 2021, he signed a new contract in 2023 and has since made regular appearances across RAW and SmackDown as part of the Latino World Order and Judgement Day factions.
During a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet, the former United States Champion reflected on the huge pop he received at Backlash upon making his full-time return to the company.
"I wasn't [surprised], just because they'd been wanting to see me back with WWE for years. Something that they always wanted," he recalled. "It was like a perfect storm being in Puerto Rico, a big pay-per-view in Puerto Rico and the world's biggest star with Bad Bunny. Everybody was kind of hoping that I would show up."
Talking about the moment his music hit, Carlito revealed, "Well, they didn't hit it right. Because it starts with the spit and ‘I split the face…’ It just went straight to my music. But luckily people still knew it was my music, and got the reaction it did."
Carlito's 2021 WWE return took place in front of no fans thanks to the pandemic. While his Backlash experience went some way in making up for that, he remembers it as a "unique experience."
"It's like Mania, it's one of the big events, it is tradition. When I returned there wasn't a live crowd," he said of the Royal Rumble. "It was the big screens or whatever. So now I kind of just enjoy seeing that big crowd, and it's a unique experience. It's a big thing. I was not signed. It was like a one-off. I did one and then went back to doing my thing. I did the RAW after that."
Many fans expected Carlito to sign with AEW, only for it to never happen. According to The Judgement Day member, he never considered being dubbed "All Elite" despite any temptation there might have been to sign with the rival company.
"I have a thing with loyalty, you know. I mean, I’ve only ever been a WWE guy, so I always kind of liked that, you know, just being a one-company guy," he admitted. "So, I mean, as long as they’ll have me, you know, I’d try to stay loyal to WWE as long as I could, and hopefully, I would honestly like to end my career with them."
You can check out the full interview with Carlito in the player below.