Carlito reflects on his exit from WWE.
Last year, Carlito departed WWE after the company opted not to renew his contract. According to the former Intercontinental Champion, the move didn’t come as a surprise. He does feel that he could have prevented it, however.
“They could have renewed it, but I never went to them,” Carlito told Insight With Chris Van Vliet. “They never came to me. So we never spoke or anything. I just was ready for whatever. I kind of shot myself in the foot because I signed the shorter deal and the usual. So I guess I bet against myself.”
Upon his return to WWE in 2023, Carlito noted that the company initially put a three-year contact on the table. Still, he chose to only sign for two.
“I signed for two years. They wanted me for three, and I signed for two because I didn’t think it was gonna go as good as it did,” Carlito said. “So, as I said, I bet against myself, and I would have got an extra year, and then my contract would expire. But ended up losing a year. But that’s all right.”
At the time of his WWE exit in the summer of 2025, Carlito was in the midst of his run with the Judgment Day on television. As such, he wishes WWE would have given the opportunity to leave the stable in a creative way.
“I still had two weeks left. I just wish they would have written me off somehow,” he said. “That’s the only thing that I didn’t like. I’m a professional bro, not being in WWE is not the end of the world. So I was like, I’ll gladly come in, and you didn’t want my services, just write me off and I’ll ride off into the sunset.”
RELATED: Brock Lesnar Explains Why He Returned To WWE After Deciding To Retire
