10 of wrestling's most shocking new champions

#8 Carlito beats John Cena in his debut match

Leading up to his debut, fans were treated to vignettes of Carlitos Colon -- son of legendary Puerto Rico wrestler Carlos Colon -- as he extolled the virtues of being 'cool.'

One person who didn't think Carlito was cool in the least was newly-minted US champion John Cena. After a verbal exchange, Cena challenged Carlito to a match, and even put his new belt on the line.

Look who just shut down all of Tony Khan's critics! More HERE.

In one of wrestling's bigger upsets, Carlito prevailed and became US champion in his first official WWE match. Though Carlito used a chain to win, he was still portrayed during the match as a credible threat to Cena, so much so that the fans were in shock as Carlito battled back again and again.

While, Carlito's career doesn't seem to be going anywhere due to a litany of personal problems, his first match will always go down as one of the most shocking and memorable moments on Smackdown.

About the author

Christopher Scott Wagoner is a writer from Austin, Texas in the United States. He is also a proud descendent of the Choctaw and Lakota people.
Chris has an English and Creative Writing degree, and is a published author with Simon and Schuster. He's ghost-written over eight million words in more than 500 books.
A long time wrestling fan, Chris is also a professional journalist who covers sports-entertainment. He's been writing for Sportskeeda since 2018.

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Edited by Nishant Jayaram