Lars Sullivan vignette airs during WWE Survivor Series pre-show

[Big Red Machine]

Source: www.F4WOnline.com
By Bryan Rose | @br26 | Nov 18, 2018 3:41 pm


Lars Sullivan looks to be making his way to the main roster very soon.

Right at the start of the second hour of the Survivor Series pre-show, a vignette for Sullivan aired. It showed him destroying a number of people during his tenure in NXT, with the vignette ending with the words “coming soon”. It wasn’t made clear what brand Sullivan would be appearing on. After the vignette aired, Coach mentioned that there would be exciting things in the WWE for the rest of 2018.

Sullivan, real name Dylan Miley, signed with WWE around 2014. For the first few years of his career, he mostly wrestled at NXT live events, making his television debut in April of last year. Since then, he’s feuded with the likes of EC3 and Aleister Black. He was also a part of the six man ladder match to determine the first North American champion, which Adam Cole won.

[KILLdozer]

Better go to SD...because Raw is NOT Lars Sullivan territory.

Idk. I'm actually not that into him. Don't like the ridiculous Snitsky 2.0 goatee part of his beard, he's only 6'3, and I've seen him have trouble muscling up heftier guys like Kassius Ohno the same way he does small slim dudes. The thing about the monster throwing guys around thing...is there is no limits or levels to who you can pull it on. Plus there doesn't feel like much more to him than...*angry snarling and breathing really hard and crazy...*

Not much is going on nor does anything else draw me in...what's the hook of this character that's different from others like it? Not the finisher...because he CAN'T do it on big guys like HE CAN ON SMALL GUYS.

He's ugly as fuck, but...uh, yeah...sure. That doesn't really help me much or any at all. He says "Lars Sullivan territory...", but it doesn't do anything for me...I mean...it's no "GET! THESE! HANDS!"

He's not overly quick or freak agile and athletic for a guy his size-oh wait he's only 6'3.

So overall...nope.

Change my mind. Now.

[Bob-O]

Change my mind. Now.

I can't, I feel the exact same way.

I didn't care for Ryback either, and they're about the same size. Ryback at least had muscle mass to back his gimmick up, but Lars is likely going to go the route of the Ascencion once they realize Cesaro is towering over him and he just looks fat...

[KILLdozer]

Change my mind. Now.

I can't, I feel the exact same way.

I didn't care for Ryback either, and they're about the same size. Ryback at least had muscle mass to back his gimmick up, but Lars is likely going to go the route of the Ascencion once they realize Cesaro is towering over him and he just looks fat...

Ryback had the catchphrase and his squashes at least were a ton of fun to watch. If he returned tonight and destroyed someone I'd love it. Sullivan just doesn't have much of a look as you said...he's not even anywhere near Mark Henry level size...wasn't that tall but nothing BUT mass.

[cero2k]

i'm not gonna change your minds since Sullivan is not on roids, but Sullivan is the most unique looking wrestler in WWE right now, he may not be as tall as Big Cass, but he has a weird form of gigantism, his head and hands are huge and he looks like a mean motherfucker and not like little teddy bear Strowman. I agree that he should go to Smackdown so he can he a giant there and have killer matches with Styles and Bryan. Catchphrases and streaks are the easier parts of getting someone over, if they can be patient with him, he could be a top challenger for WM2020

[Big Red Machine]

i'm not gonna change your minds since Sullivan is not on roids, but Sullivan is the most unique looking wrestler in WWE right now, he may not be as tall as Big Cass, but he has a weird form of gigantism, his head and hands are huge and he looks like a mean motherfucker and not like little teddy bear Strowman. I agree that he should go to Smackdown so he can he a giant there and have killer matches with Styles and Bryan. Catchphrases and streaks are the easier parts of getting someone over, if they can be patient with him, he could be a top challenger for WM2020

This.
They just need to let Lars be the grunting, modern-day caveman he should be and between the gigantism and the aura, he'll be there. He might not be as big as Ryback, but he comes across as more dangerous than Ryback ever did.

[KILLdozer]

Ryback felt he like could run over anything and everybody in no time and he did. Over and over again. Sullivan just doesn't get me feeling it. Part of me already feels tired of him. He's almost like *The first Snitsky, it wasn't my fault, Yeah I kicked that baby!, with the goatee thing off the chin* , and then the second Snitsky, *bald, acne everywhere, crazy as shit in an angry way*,...put together.

It's no secret that son of a bitches that come down to heavy metal and just tear everybody's face off are my favorite type of classic wrestlers....

AND HE DOESN'T DO IT FOR ME.

Maybe as Cero said..."because no steroids"..
Maybe it just needs time and he's still in the very early goings and it all needs a lot of work...NXT monster is very different than the RAW and SD monsters we're used to seeing like Ryback, Test when he came back to New Ecw...Kevin Thorne, and so on from there Last 10 years...maybe within time he'll make it all work, idk. As of now....Son...I am dissapoint.

Part of it is as I said again...I think it was the takeover match with Ohno where he REALLY didn't get all of it out of his moves on Ohno, like the *Throw straight into the air and then right into a running powerslam on the way down* move, he just didn't get him very high on the initial toss...it felt like to me-that exposed something like a crack in the armor, or a flaw in this son of a bitch they were trying so hard to constantly sell me as "AWH YEAH THAT GUY'S CRAZY GET OUTTA' THE WAY!". Then I saw he couldn't throw Ohno like Raul Mendoza and it was like the curtain was pulled back.

Maybe that's also somewhat on Ohno's athletic ability to jump and sell the toss as well compared to Mendoza's...but think back to Attitude era Big Show, Undertaker, and Kane.

Shit even A-Train and Lesnar and others: What's one of the biggest things that always got attention and caught your eye? These guys threw everybody around the same way, including each other, no matter what. I don't wanna see a guy sling a cruiserweight then barely elevate a fat boy! That's just strange to see for a guy like Sullivan. Oh yeah-he also bobbled him with the "Freak accident"! Oh yeah, really impressive...

I'd rather see him get kicked down by guys like Aleister Black, No men are ever truly evil, no men are ever truly good, and others...use him as an obstacle, a built up roadblock. I don't wanna see him going DOWN THE ROAD himself just running over whatever.

As of now, I'll have to pass on Sullivan.

[Bob-O]

i'm not gonna change your minds since Sullivan is not on roids

You are correct. But, it has nothing to do with physique, I didn't like Ryback either. But at least with Ryback, he never came across as undersized for his gimmick, even when paired with larger guys... you know, 'cause the roids...

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to see Lars fail! I don't want to see anyone fail, except for Enzo. But the way they've developed him, I think they've set him up to. He is unique, and he does look like a dangerous, mean motherfucker. He doesn't look like a teddy bear, but they've trained him to work like somebody half a foot taller and it's going to work if he "coming soon" to 205 Live!

Even on Smackdown, he can't JUST work with Bryan and AJ... Rowan, Harper, Sheamus, Gallows, and Killian Dane are all bigger than him, while Cesaro, Orton, and Nakamura are taller... shit, he'll be looking up at Tye Dillinger and Aiden English! The Monster gimmick is going to work about as well as it did for The Ascension.

[Bob-O]

I think it was the takeover match with Ohno where he REALLY didn't get all of it out of his moves on Ohno, like the *Throw straight into the air and then right into a running powerslam on the way down* move, he just didn't get him very high on the initial toss...it felt like to me-that exposed something like a crack in the armor

Bingo. It was the program with Ohno.

[KILLdozer]

I think it was the takeover match with Ohno where he REALLY didn't get all of it out of his moves on Ohno, like the *Throw straight into the air and then right into a running powerslam on the way down* move, he just didn't get him very high on the initial toss...it felt like to me-that exposed something like a crack in the armor

Bingo. It was the program with Ohno.

Yeah-he BARELY GOT HIM ABOVE HIS SHOULDER AT ALL on that toss into the powerslam...I was like wtf is shit supposed to be?

I mean I'm about two inches smaller but have 10 times more muscle mass than him..and I'm no wrestler...creatine is a hell of a thing.

Stop the "upwards camera angles Oooohhh stuff" it's like "look at how tall this guy is NOT!"

The whole thing comes as very surprising actually. Why now? What's the sudden interest and why the reason to do this now at this moment? He's done a couple of things here and there with dudes like EC The III and The Dream...and Ohno and Aleister Black at takeovers...now it's just *fuck it main roster!*

Why? Why do I wanna see fat boy #3 out of nowhere? Rowan and Harper would take his beard and stick it onto theirs...let alone all the others you mentioned. He's like a weird in between cross of Corbin and himself...Corbin Corbin is taller with no muscle or mass or definition at all...Sullivan is short with just a bit of fat. We all saw how Corbin worked.

[cero2k]

i'm not gonna change your minds since Sullivan is not on roids

You are correct. But, it has nothing to do with physique, I didn't like Ryback either. But at least with Ryback, he never came across as undersized for his gimmick, even when paired with larger guys... you know, 'cause the roids...

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to see Lars fail! I don't want to see anyone fail, except for Enzo. But the way they've developed him, I think they've set him up to. He is unique, and he does look like a dangerous, mean motherfucker. He doesn't look like a teddy bear, but they've trained him to work like somebody half a foot taller and it's going to work if he "coming soon" to 205 Live!

Even on Smackdown, he can't JUST work with Bryan and AJ... Rowan, Harper, Sheamus, Gallows, and Killian Dane are all bigger than him, while Cesaro, Orton, and Nakamura are taller... shit, he'll be looking up at Tye Dillinger and Aiden English! The Monster gimmick is going to work about as well as it did for The Ascension.

to me Sullivan is like Samoa Joe, considerably smaller than a lot of guys, but I have no doubt in my mind that he can beat the shit out of anyone in WWE

[KILLdozer]

On the subject of comparing to others...Cassidy was just a tad bit away from the proper shape to me...if he'd gotten jacked fully...that would be different.

How tall is Lashley btw?

[Bob-O]

On the subject of comparing to others...Cassidy was just a tad bit away from the proper shape to me...if he'd gotten jacked fully...that would be different.

How tall is Lashley btw?

To play Devil's Advocate, let's talk about Big E... he's under 6', but he's still a beast when push comes to shove.

My point in all this is that, to Dozer's point, is that they've created his character around being the biggest guy there. The scariest, most dangerous, twisted blah blah blah... but it's all been centered around his size. The camera angles, and the stare downs, and the overall style he works is very similar to Strowman or Big Show. It's how they decided to develop him in developmental and I think they did him a disservice, because it just won't work with somebody like Harper or Gallows... where somebody like Big E can stare back up at them and you still go "oh shit... Big E's gonna mess up the rest of their week..."

He needs to expand or refine his style, and I don't think he's ready for that. He struggled with Ohno, he was blown up throughout the NA Ladder Match... I feel like he should have worked a program with Keith Lee before the call up and figured this stuff out, because I think they got excited about self-serving NXT (where it works) instead of setting him up to succeed.

[KILLdozer]

Yep. To keep going onto that point...don't show me a 6'3 fat boy and tell me he's the baddest craziest and most dangerous killa' around when he simply CAN'T MEASURE UP NOR LEGITIMATELY physically keep up or compete with his counterparts. Harper is 7 feet doing dropkicks and superkicks. So is Strowman. He's in the same sense as Gallows, where their height and size is simply inconsiquential as to what they can and actually do. Sullivan just doesn't have that.

He could use some tattoos maybe to help with that image and a lot heavy weight lifting.

E Langston's size doesn't really play up much because he can compete and actually lift everyone around him. Heck, I'd rather see HIM go on a solo run instead! Joe is just a fighter, pure and plain and simple without doubt. He's never really won me over in all these years either. Don't hate the guy, just not interested.

Someone on Reddit mentioned Sullivan is helped a LOT by the fact that everyone is NXT almost is shorter than him...so it's really funny how he just happens to seem to have size working for him. Soon enough, that's going to change and they're not going to be able yo easily rely on that by putting him with 6' and under.

[Big Red Machine]

On the subject of comparing to others...Cassidy was just a tad bit away from the proper shape to me...if he'd gotten jacked fully...that would be different.

How tall is Lashley btw?

To play Devil's Advocate, let's talk about Big E... he's under 6', but he's still a beast when push comes to shove.

My point in all this is that, to Dozer's point, is that they've created his character around being the biggest guy there. The scariest, most dangerous, twisted blah blah blah... but it's all been centered around his size. The camera angles, and the stare downs, and the overall style he works is very similar to Strowman or Big Show. It's how they decided to develop him in developmental and I think they did him a disservice, because it just won't work with somebody like Harper or Gallows... where somebody like Big E can stare back up at them and you still go "oh shit... Big E's gonna mess up the rest of their week..."

He needs to expand or refine his style, and I don't think he's ready for that. He struggled with Ohno, he was blown up throughout the NA Ladder Match... I feel like he should have worked a program with Keith Lee before the call up and figured this stuff out, because I think they got excited about self-serving NXT (where it works) instead of setting him up to succeed.

You're not wrong, but I think the problem is less one of size and more one of character. A grunting, almost caveman-like Lars Sullivan whose verbiage is someone what similar to a non-hyper Nikki Cross ("You. Me. This." while holding up someone's title belt) would be a more unique character, which would allow him to sidestep some of these other problems (though don't forget that the dude is billed at 6'3 330, and pretty much everyone's height is exaggerated so it's not just him).

[KILLdozer]

Some sort of man of few words stoic character won't interest me in him.

He's ANYTHING but caveman-like. He's used all kinds of verbiage and phrases and even realized he's gone too far and apologized for it.

[Big Red Machine]

Yep. To keep going onto that point...don't show me a 6'3 fat boy and tell me he's the baddest craziest and most dangerous killa' around when he simply CAN'T MEASURE UP NOR LEGITIMATELY physically keep up or compete with his counterparts. Harper is 7 feet doing dropkicks and superkicks. So is Strowman. He's in the same sense as Gallows, where their height and size is simply inconsiquential as to what they can and actually do. Sullivan just doesn't have that.

Dude. Harper is billed at 6'5, so he's probably actually more like 6'3. He's not much taller than Lars. And not doing dropkicks is the sort of thing that can set Lars apart from guys like Harper.

He could use some tattoos maybe to help with that image and a lot heavy weight lifting.

The gimmick is that he is a genetic freak. He's not some big weightlifter guy like Ryback. The idea is that he is this strong naturally. And tattoos don't make you look tougher.

Someone on Reddit mentioned Sullivan is helped a LOT by the fact that everyone is NXT almost is shorter than him...so it's really funny how he just happens to seem to have size working for him. Soon enough, that's going to change and they're not going to be able yo easily rely on that by putting him with 6' and under.

Bryan, AJ, Balor, Ziggler, Roode, Owens, Zayn, Rollins, Rey, Jeff Hardy, Joe, Rusev, Nakamura, Rhyno, Big E., Kofi, Miz... I think he'll be fine.

[KILLdozer]

Tattoos or something....any kind of drastic altering thing to his look would help at this point.

And sure they do. Show me Sullivan and Someone like Tomko and tell me who looks like the badder, meaner, tougher son of a bitch. Why do you think people are somewhat leery of tons of tattoos on people? It says a lot about pain threshold and tolerance and bravery lol.

[KILLdozer]

Yep. To keep going onto that point...don't show me a 6'3 fat boy and tell me he's the baddest craziest and most dangerous killa' around when he simply CAN'T MEASURE UP NOR LEGITIMATELY physically keep up or compete with his counterparts. Harper is 7 feet doing dropkicks and superkicks. So is Strowman. He's in the same sense as Gallows, where their height and size is simply inconsiquential as to what they can and actually do. Sullivan just doesn't have that.

Dude. Harper is billed at 6'5, so he's probably actually more like 6'3. He's not much taller than Lars. And not doing dropkicks is the sort of thing that can set Lars apart from guys like Harper.

He could use some tattoos maybe to help with that image and a lot heavy weight lifting.

The gimmick is that he is a genetic freak. He's not some big weightlifter guy like Ryback. The idea is that he is this strong naturally. And tattoos don't make you look tougher.

Someone on Reddit mentioned Sullivan is helped a LOT by the fact that everyone is NXT almost is shorter than him...so it's really funny how he just happens to seem to have size working for him. Soon enough, that's going to change and they're not going to be able yo easily rely on that by putting him with 6' and under.

Bryan, AJ, Balor, Ziggler, Roode, Owens, Zayn, Rollins, Rey, Jeff Hardy, Joe, Rusev, Nakamura, Rhyno, Big E., Kofi, Miz... I think he'll be fine.

Again though...all those guys aren't much smaller than him...He's only a few inches mire than the smallest guys on the roster. Who cares about that kind of "monster" , that doesn't have much else going for him at all?

Lashley is his size. Works the size gimmick much better with muscle as well. Cage is 6 even. Works it well with muscle again. Sullivan just is NOT overly strong so he just doesn't fit in here.

[KILLdozer]

Also...all of that weird looking hair all over? I don't wanna see that lol.