Update on Former WWE Star's Return to the Company

By Connor Casey

Former WWE Intercontinental, United States and Tag Team Champion Carlito made his surprise return to WWE at the Backlash pay-per-view back in May, assisting Savio Vega and the LWO in helping Bad Bunny beat Damian Priest in a San Juan Street Fight. The former star's appearance was so well-received that fans started openly pushing for him to return to the company full-time online and reports of him signing a new deal with the promotion popped up shortly after. It was then reported that he'd make his return during the first week of July, but that came and went without any sign of him. 

PWInsider is now reporting that Carlito was initially booked to return last week but that plans changed. Sources indicated that The Bloodline's "Tribal Court" segment was intended to be the main focus of last week's Friday Night SmacDown at Madison Square Garden and that Carlito's return (and presumed reunion with The LWO) would've diluted both stories, so his return was pushed out. There's no word as to when it'll be.

"Yeah, I'm open to whatever, any good offer from anywhere, it doesn't matter. Thing is, nobody calls me so I don't sit by the phone either. If something comes up, great, if not I keep doing what I'm doing," Carlito said in an interview with Metro days before his surprise appearance.

Why Triple H Initially Turned Down an LWO Revival

The LWO was officially arrived just before WrestleMania 39, with Rey Mysterio joining forces with Legado Del Fantasma to form a new group. Escobar later revealed on Out of Character that he pitched to bring back the faction when he first signed with WWE, but it was turned down by Paul "Triple H" Levesque.

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"The very first conversation I had with Triple H, he asked me what do you want to do, and I told them, 'Can I bring back the LWO?'" Escobar said. "Before I said the letter 'O,' he said 'No.' [He said,] 'I want you to be you and I want people to see you and not think of anybody else' ... That kind of shut down my initial desire, but Triple H was right. The time wasn't right. It wouldn't have been what it is right now. Also, it needed a very important ingredient: an OG. An original LWO [member], and that's Rey [Mysterio]."

"[Legado del Fantasma] gave me the opportunity to do what everything I wanted to do," Escobar later added. "Who I am, where I come from, what I'm about ... every single time I was out there. Every promo, every backstage, every scene, every feud, every rivalry was letting people know that I'm all about lucha libre [and] that lucha libre is about tradition, heritage, culture, and familia. All the values that you have whether you're Mexican, Latino, or not, are the values I have. We relate, and that's how Legado got over. That's how Santos got really over on 'NXT,' because everything I say is real."

WWE SummerSlam 2023 Rumored Card

  • Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso
  • Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre
  • SmackDown Women's Championship: Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Bianca Belair
  • Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships: Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. TBA
  • Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar (with some sort of stipulation)
  • Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus
  • Ronda Rousey vs. Shayna Baszler
  • Ricochet vs. Logan Paul

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