Former WWE champion, 46, 'knows retirement is coming' in near future

Metro

01-05-2025

Carlito is enjoying his second spell with WWE, but he knows retirement is approaching.
The 46-year-old wrestler returned to the company at Backlash Puerto Rico in 2023 and is a member of Judgment Day alongside the likes of Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio.
When it comes to winding down his career, he exclusively told Metro in Las Vegas before WrestleMania: 'You never know, you know what I mean?
'Your body sometimes let's you know. Who knows? But I know it's coming.'
In the meantime, the former United States Champion is focused on enjoying his time in the ring while he still can.
Reflecting on his current goals, he said: 'Just having fun, man. And with what time I've got left, just giving it whatever I can.'
Despite the thrills of being on a stacked roster with plenty of new opponents, Carlito isn't giving much thought to any potential dream matches before he hangs up his boots for the last time.
He admitted: 'I've passed that stage of 'Who would you like to work with?' I'm just here to have fun and work, and leave some body of work before I go.'
Before the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the eve of WrestleMania last month, Carlito hadn't wrestled on TV since November 2024.
However, he can frequently be seen helping his Judgment Day teammates out, or playing WWE 2K25 in the group's backstage clubhouse.
'I've been attempting to play it,' he joked to The Wrestling Classic in a recent interview.
He rated his gaming skills as 'terrible', but insisting he's 'working on it' – just don't ask him to play as himself in the game.
'No, I play as Roman Reigns, he's a 90-something,' he quipped.
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Having made his return to the 2K franchise as a DLC character in WWE 2K25, this year's game sees him back in the fold on the main roster, 15 years after he was last in a WWE game.
Reflecting on coming back into the fold in WWE as a whole, he told Metro in Vegas: 'It's a whole new thing for me. A lot of the people aren't around anymore from my day, it's all these young kids now. It's interesting!'
When it comes to his attitude rejoining the company, Carlito insisted his outlook is always being 'ready to work'.
During an interview just days before that iconic Backlash comeback two years ago, he claimed 'nobody' had been in touch with him about a return.
'I'm open to whatever, any good offer from anywhere, it doesn't matter,' he said at the time.
'This is, nobody calls me so I don't sit by the phone either. If something comes up, great. If not, I keep doing what I'm doing.'
Fans were immediately blown away by the former Intercontinental Champion's physique as he made a surprise appearance at Backlash to help Bad Bunny beat Damian Priest in a Street Fight.
'It hasn't been as hard as people think,' he told us last year about his ridiculous body transformation. 'Just once you get in the mindset, I think you stick to it, and it's everything's kind of easy.'
Despite being born into the wrestling business – his father Carlos Colon is WWE Hall of Famer and a hero in their native Puerto Rico – Carlito admitted even he has days where he doesn't want to work out. More Trending
'At this point, you know, there's a lot of stuff that I don't want to do, but I don't even think about it now,' he shrugged.
While social media was flooded with posts about his epic transformation and calls for WWE to re-sign him – which they soon did – he was simply overjoyed with the reaction he got live in Puerto Rico.
'I didn't expect the response that I got. But it just shows that they've been – a lot of people have been waiting for me [back] in a WWE ring for the longest time,' he said. 'And, you know, I greatly appreciate that.'
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WWE 2K25 is available now. Netflix is the official home of WWE in the UK, while WWE will return to the UK and Europe this summer.
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