The Complex: What is the true meaning behind Ric Flair's promo on Monday Night RAW?
RAW gives me goosebumps, the kind that stand up for days in anticipation or the result of something great. Last RAW Ric Flair cut a promo on Carlito so great I thought about it for days afterwards. Then it dawned on me, the entire promo was based on Carlito leaving the show while the main event was on because he wasn't in it, Carlito figured he should be in the main event even though a 16 time World Champion couldn't get in the main event. What gives Carlito the right to walk out on RAW? The answer is very, very complex.
Since the draft in May of 2005 the face of RAW has been blatantly changed by four of the five draft picks; John Cena, Kurt Angle, RVD and Carlito. John Cena a middle class ex-bodybuilder from Mass became a huge star, Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle put on stellar matches during his feud with HBK before leaving for Smackdown to step in for an injured Batista and became WHC, then abruptly left for TNA and changed the wrestling world forever, (don’t believe me? Watch what happens when TNA gets their second hour). RVD won Money in the Bank at WM22, got caught smoking weed with Sabu, was subsequently stripped of both his ECW title and WWE title and has been in the doghouse for over 6 months. As for Carlito who won his first match for the IC Title against Shelton Benjamin on his RAW debut, things have never been better; of course I’m being sarcastic.
After appearing in several RAW PPV from 2005-2006 including Vengeance 05-06, Unforgiven 05-06 and NYR 05-06, Carlito’s coolness has evaporated and his debut seems a long, long time ago even though Cena’s been around for the same amount of time and his progress has blasted him into main event status. Carlito is not in the main event, he’s not even close and he should be by now; he’s technically sound, good looking, charismatic and popular. Unfortunately so is half the roster including some new additions to RAW Johnny Nitro, a much needed and welcomed back with open arms Jeff Hardy who followed Eddie Guerrero’s example and went back to the Indies while he dealt with his drug problems from 2002-2006 and Kenny “Spirit Squad” Dykstra who will be 21 in a month. Carlito will be 28 and still only 5’ 10” 220lbs while Kenny stands at 6’2” and 234lbs. Even though HBK has proven that you can’t measure the size of a man’s heart in pounds and inches (Shawn Michaels is only 220llbs) it does matter to Vince who has a well documented passion for muscle and fitness freaks like himself, that leaves Carlito way out in the cold but that’s not the whole reason Carlos is in the dog house, he’s lost his Latino heat.
Eddie Guerrero was special because no matter how banged up he was, no matter how tired or emotionally burnt out he became over the years he always gave it his best out there in the Fed and they rewarded him by sabotaging his legacy on Smackdown days after he passed away. The Fed looks down on Latinos and always will because the way the Fed sees it there’s enough of a market for Latino wrestling outside North America in Japan (NOAH) and Mexico (AAA) for talented vatos like Carlito, Chavo and until recently Super Crazy to be pushed down instead of up the pecking order. It’s not racism its economics which is of course what the Nazis used to justify the Holocaust but that’s not what Vince McMahon is doing, or is it? You only have to look at the four top guys on RAW to answer that question.
John Cena, HBK, Edge and Randy Orton have dominated the TV time on RAW for the past year for different reasons. Cena beat everyone put in front of him albeit unconvincingly save his match against Edge at Unforgiven and his match against Umaga at the Royal Rumble this past January. Since Jericho left Cena’s been getting by on his looks; his feud with Angle was forgettable and I never thought that was possible being that everyone else Angle has gone in there with has come out looking like a million bucks (Austin, Benoit, HHH, HBK, Edge, Hogan, Rock, Y2J) but that’s another RAW entirely. In the “new RAW” Cena found his niche as the Great White Hope in 2006 and he’s gonna be that as long as he can. The only interaction Cena’s had with Carlito was in a memorable feud with Carlos and Jesus Aguilera back when both guys were on Smackdown in 2004; Cena was stabbed at a club and it turns out Carlito was the man behind it. The feud was cut short due to Carlito’s injury but it left me with a feeling that Carlito had found a niche of his own as the anti-Cena, the remedy for Cenamania and my dream come true.
In reality Carlito would have to look more like Edge to get into a match with Cena, Edge is what a RAW Superstar should look like; you know a cardboard cut out of Triple H or Randy Orton. But that may not be the case for long; Cena’s already beaten guys that look like Edge or are Edge, as well as The Game himself, maybe there’s hope for Carlito if they can’t even beat Cena. Oh no wait a second, HBK and Randy Orton haven’t had their shot at the WWE Championship have they? That’s right, Carlito’s not on Randy Orton’s level (no-one’s on HBK’s level). Should Randy Orton even be taking up so much TV time because of his connections with Evolution and his last name? Of course not but he is, Carlito comes from a wrestling family too but unlike Orton he would be fired if he was caught smoking weed outside a house show or taking a dump in Diva’s bags. You have to be a total Degenerate to succeed on RAW (pun intended).
So that brings us to 2007 where Wrestlemania 23 is now 50 days away and where is Carlito heading? Back to Smackdown or back to Puerto Rico? My hope is neither because I believe unlike RVD, Angle and Cena that he has to prove he belongs on RAW. Getting rid of Carlito and by that I mean taking him off TV would be the biggest mistake the Fed could ever make. If they want to spend the next 50 days embarrassing him however they are within their legal right to do so; Flair said that Carlito wasn’t making good on his side of the wrestling agreement which was to go out there and kill himself so he can get in the main event. I hope Carlito survives to see 60 but given the history of the WWE towards Latinos combined with Flair’s demands, he won’t even make it to his 30th birthday. The Fed worked Eddie Guerrero to death even though Eddie was happy for that, Carlito is cool just getting by but I think Flair sees greatness in him, he sees his father’s legacy and he once again can ride the exotic stud’s back and catapult him into an honorable place on the RAW roster and that’s better than being a franchise pushed down the fans’ throat ad nauseum I won’t name names [cough] “Chain Gang” [cough].
I don’t want to see Carlito buried before his time, I want to see him become like Randy Orton was supposed to be and achieve his destiny as the future of this crazy business I love to death; in that respect I’m more old skool than nu skool but a Flair vs. Carlito feud would show wrestling fans that this business needs both young and old, innovation and tradition, athleticism and showmanship side by side to survive against the ever profitable market for mixed martial arts and ultimate fighting which I think is very, very uncool considering how much talent there is in the wrestling industry. The complexion of Carlito’s skin, the texture of his hair and the tone of his voice are not disposable like the so called Women’s Division, he has a chance to prove that it is the diversity - that’s all cultures - have a place in the World Wrestling Federation, its not Entertainment when the only memorable TV time one of the most talented guys in the company gets is a verbal pink slip; that is not cool in fact I think it sucks.
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