While not confirmed by WWE, PWInsider.com has reported that Lars Sullivan has been released from his contract. Apparently, it was a quiet release that occurred in January, and he has not wished the best in his future endeavors, which is what WWE usually does. No reason is known yet why he was cut, but he did carry a lot of baggage.
Before signing with the company, he had posted racist, sexist, homophobic, and other offensive messages on an online forum. Once WWE learned of this, he was fined $100,000 and had to carry out sensitivity training. It would also later come out that he had acted in gay adult movies under the name Mitch Bennett which he hadn’t declared to WWE.
Sullivan signed with WWE in 2013 after initially training with Boby Lashley and wrestled his first official match in 2015. Once he debuted on NXT, he received a significant push based on his size and intensity. He was scheduled to debut on Raw in January 2019 and was even penciled in to be John Cena Wrestlemania 35 opponent. However, he had an anxiety attack beforehand and walked out. This resulted in WWE canceling their plans for him. He did receive another chance and appeared on Raw later that year. Shortly afterward, he was drafted to SmackDown but, unfortunately for him, suffered a severe knee injury just two months into his run.
It took 18 months, but Sullivan was able to return to WWE and would beat both Jeff Hardy and Shorty G in quick matches, seemingly establishing himself as a threat to WWE’s main eventers. Then out of nowhere, he disappeared again, with rumors being WWE didn’t want to be pushing both him and Braun Strowman, who virtually had the same gimmick simultaneously.
What is next for Sullivan remains to be seen. He has never competed outside of the WWE system, so it could be a big adjustment wrestling elsewhere. Plus, given his past comments, there may not be many promotions keen to work with him.
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