10 Wrestlers Who Lost All Passion For The Business

8. Carlito

Carlito WWE
WWE

The landscape through which Carlito emerged was barren, and as such, it didn't take a lot for fans to latch onto a new act if they boasted something that set them apart from the laughably robotic, talentless muscle monsters that John Laurinaitis hired to pop Vince McMahon.

Stardom was thus projected onto Carlito, who was small enough to escape hardcore fan size bias and boasted a laidback, unflappble demeanour and arresting screen presence. He looked like he belonged on and was born for TV, he was that composed on the stage.

As it transpired, he was more detached than anything else.

He wasn't great in the ring. He was good, and at one point showed immense promise as an athletic heel who could thread his stuff together very well, but he didn't build on that which came naturally to him.

And that is because, per Jim Ross talking on his Grilling JR podcast in 2021, he was only a Hall of Famer in the field of pounding strange. Yes, Carlito was a womaniser more interested in the recreational activity that fame affords than working the main event of WrestleMania.

This was written all over his face deeper into his WWE run, during which he was less "cool" and more "bored sh*tless".

 
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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!