Carlito Broke Normal WWE Protocol By Announcing His Exit Mid-Storyline

Carlito’s WWE exit didn’t follow the script—and that’s exactly how he wanted it. While still involved in an active storyline on WWE television, the former Intercontinental Champion publicly announced that his contract would not be renewed, catching fans and WWE off guard.

According to the June 2, 2025 episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez revealed that Carlito’s decision to go public before being officially written off TV went against WWE’s long-standing internal protocol. The company typically keeps release decisions quiet until after finishing off a character on screen. Carlito confirmed the news with trademark sarcasm on social media:

“My contract is up in 2 weeks. It will not be renewed. On top of that, WWE is demanding I pay back the $ they paid me for apparently ‘stealing money’ from the company. I’ve had my lawyers look into it and after reviewing my footage on Netflix for the past months they suggested I pay them back the money😳”

He ended on a sincere note, thanking fans and the company:

“All jokes aside, gracias WWE & especially the WWE universe. Los quiero mucho! PS…I’ll reappear again in another 13yrs. Dios me los bendiga!”

But the real story, according to Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez, is what happened behind the scenes—and how Carlito’s announcement didn’t line up with WWE’s usual playbook.

Meltzer noted that Carlito was still involved in an active storyline with Raquel Rodriguez on WWE TV. Announcing an exit before WWE had a chance to end the angle properly threw off internal expectations.

“Usually when we hear about these guys being gone—and they say it—like, put it this way: if you’re gonna be back, I mean the usual protocol, which is why it’s kind of a surprise to me, especially with Carlito, is that if you’re in this situation, they send you out there, you usually get massacred in some way and they blow you off. And then they’ll tell you, ‘Oh, by the way, you’re not being renewed.’”

Bryan Alvarez added:

“Well, the Carlito one is weird because with Truth, it’s like they did that last big run… but with Carlito, it’s like he wasn’t doing anything—but they were in the middle of doing a storyline with him and Raquel. They’d been working on this for months.”

Meltzer said the fact that Carlito was told ahead of time—and then tweeted about it—was not standard:

“That’s not how they do it. They don’t tell you until they’ve blown you off. That’s the whole point of this.”

Whether Carlito was reacting to a lowball offer or just taking control of his narrative, one thing is clear—he left before WWE had the chance to finish the story. And that’s not the way they usually let things play out.

Carlito’s WWE run may be over, but the way it ended says a lot about how the company is currently handling contracts—and who gets to control the exit.

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