Current RAW star admits he thought John Cena was pranking him during his WWE debut

A current WWE RAW star recently revealed that he once thought that John Cena was ribbing him during their match. Cena is currently on his farewell tour and will be retiring at the end of the year.

One of the most surprising moments in SmackDown history was when Carlito defeated Cena to win the United States Championship in 2004. The Puerto Rican star was making his main roster debut and immediately challenged for a title. He defeated the then-Doctor of Thuganomics by hitting the latter with his own steel chain.

Speaking to Chris Van Vliet on Insight, Carlito shared the story of how great it was to work with John Cena back then. The Cenation Leader was so kind to him before bringing it on during their match, hitting his opponent with some stiff shots. These punches and kicks made the second-generation star think that he was being pranked:

"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, 'Oh, okay I see what’s going on here.' But that’s just the way he worked. And I think that’s what he said. He’s a strong boy, he hits hard," Carlito said. [H/T chrisvanvliet.com]

John Cena and Carlito became rivals after that, feuding for the United States Championship. They also faced each other for the WWE Championship a year later when they were both on RAW.

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Carlito credits John Cena for convincing him to use the Backstabber

While the Backstabber has become a signature move for some wrestlers over the years, it was a devastating maneuver back then in the early 2000s. It was popularized by Carlito, who began using it in 2006 until the present day as his finisher.

Even though he was not convinced about using it as his finisher, it was John Cena who urged him to continue doing it:

"I remember I used to do that move, and (Cena) 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 said. [H/T chrisvanvliet.com]

After Cena's name was mentioned, Carlito expressed openness to facing his former WWE rival one more time before he officially retires at the end of 2025.