Carlito Reflects on Beating John Cena in His WWE Debut

– Speaking to Insight with Chris Van Vliet, WWE Superstar Carlito discussed his career, beating John Cena in his WWE debut, his WrestleMania 21 in-ring segment with Roddy Piper and Steve Austin, and more. Below are some highlights provided to us by Insight:

Carlito on beating John Cena in his WWE in-ring debut: “It was great. I first thought that Cena had pranked me because as soon as I got there he was the nicest guy to me. Went over everything with me, one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. Then we get in the ring, the bell rang, and he kicked me in the stomach so hard. That’s like, okay I see what’s going on here. But that’s just the way he worked and I think that’s the way he still works. He’s a strong boy, he hits hard.”

On his WrestleMania 21 segment with Steve Austin and Roddy Piper: “That was one of those moments you could say okay, I’m in here with Piper who I’d known since I was a little kid. And then Austin, I never really met him but of course I knew of him, how big he was. So I knew it was a cool little spot, because I still couldn’t wrestle. I still can’t wrestle now [laughs], but back then I couldn’t actually wrestle because I had that shoulder issue. So it was cool to have a nice little spot at WrestleMania 21 with two of the biggest stars of all time.”

His thoughts on what it was like being out there with Piper and Austin: “I didn’t get nervous. It was one of those things like I can hang with these people, that’s how I always felt. So I never got nervous. I remember having to wrestle Shawn Michaels or something, I’d show that I could hang with him, that was my idea. I didn’t get nervous or whatever. I’m gonna show him that I can hang with him.”

On coming up with the Backstabber as his finisher: “That’s back to John Cena again. I remember I used to do that move and he liked it and said ‘Man, that’s a finisher. You should do it as a finisher.’ I was like yeah, but the guy lands on top of me and I’m taking his weight. I mean, if I got to do this… Luckily I don’t win a lot, so I don’t have to worry about that. But it was his idea. ‘You should do it as a finisher.’ All right, I’ll try it out. And then, yeah, so thanks to him that I stuck with it.”

Carlito on his stabbing John Cena storyline: “I don’t know what the official story is nowadays, they changed it over the years. Apparently, I was at the club and he got stabbed. I don’t think it was me that stabbed him or my buddy Jesus. I don’t think it was Jesus, or maybe it was, I don’t know. All I know is it wasn’t me. I think somebody at the club [did it]. Luckily, he made a movie during that time too. So we’re lucky he didn’t get stabbed that badly.”