Carlito finally opens up on Ric flair shooting on him on live TV, the creative talks around having John Cena STABBED and his WWE return that was 14 years in the making

Flair criticised Carlito in an unscripted promo on live television back in 2007Carlito explained his real-life reaction to words from the two-time Hall of FamerCena, meanwhile, was stabbed by Carlito's bodyguard via his orders in storyline 

WWE star Carlito has opened up on criticism from Ric Flair as a young star in 2007.

The now-44-year-old has recently returned to the WWE, aligning with Rey Mysterio and the LWO in a feud against former stable member Santos Escobar and his new allies, Humberto and Angel.

While he has pledged to do his best to elevate younger stars in his second run in the company, Carlito was once a star trying to reach the top of the food chain in his first run, which ended in 2010.

While he was once on-screen friends and partners with two-time Hall of Famer Ric Flair, the two endured a memorable altercation in 2007 when Flair slammed his 30-year junior in a backstage promo.

He has since explained the reason behind it – that he had just received criticism from then-boss Vince McMahon – but the man on the receiving end, explained that it didn’t really bother him anyway.

WWE star Carlito has opened up on being on the receiving end of some harsh words from Ric Flair back in 2007

Flair (right) slammed then-youngster Carlito in an unscripted backstage promo back in 2007

Flair has since revealed that he had been criticised by then-boss Vince McMahon moments before the exchange

‘I don’t know,’ Carlito said. ‘I didn’t see the big deal about until after, people were talking about it after. I think it was probably before internet was was big way back in the day.

‘You couldn’t see stuff online later on. But to me, I don’t know. It’s just another day at the office.

‘I enjoyed the segment. I didn’t take it as serious as other people took it. I don’t know how much higher you can get. It put me in kind of some kind of shock watching Ric Flair do his thing.’

Fair had launched an unscripted verbal attack on Carlito, after being put on the spot by executive Bruce Pritchard.

Flair branded the then-youngster ‘lazy’ and ‘lucky to be on the roster’. While it’s likely the words were in-character, with Carlito leaving the building early – in storyline – the promo has become synonymous with Flair’s later years.

Carlito returned full-time to WWE last year, aligning with the LWO in a feud with former stablemate Santos Escobar

Another storyline Carlito was involved in during his first run surrounded a rivalry with John Cena, which saw the 16-time world champion stabbed by Carlito’s bodyguard, Jesus, after ‘Caribbean Cool’ had beaten him to win the United States Championship.

While the storyline received criticism because of its violent nature, Carlito has admitted that he had no second thoughts about taking it on.

‘I looked on Instagram, a lot of stuff pops up and a lot of things I did back in the day wouldn’t fly nowadays,’ he said. ‘So yeah, it was it was a different time for sure.

‘I was just coming in. I would have taken any idea. Give me whatever idea you’ve got and I’ll make it work. So they could have told me me do whatever and I would have done it. But I would have tried to make it the best I could.’

He also opened up on a storyline that saw John Cena (pictured) stabbed by his bodyguard

And while Carlito is keen to help progress the business in the self-confessed ‘few years’ he has remaining, he’s also excited for one final run in WWE – including this spring’s Wrestlemania.

‘I think by the time I was leaving last time, people were talking about the wrestling not being as good, as if was was starting to get stale. I think like these past couple years WWE is the hot thing again, I think wrestling is having a resurgence. And I think now’s the greatest time of all to be in wrestling and from this point on it’s gonna get bigger and bigger.

‘I think just being on the show [WrestleMania] would mean a lot to me. After all these years, being on it, just to be a part of WrestleMania, get my toes back in it. For me, that’d be a big thing, just being on the show and doing something to then hopefully be entertaining for the crowd.’

Royal Rumble, Saturday 27th, WWE Network and TNT Sports Box Office