New broke earlier today that WWE has quietly released rising star Lars Sullivan following a number of injury setbacks and public controversy.
According to Fightful Select, Sullivan was set for.a major push when he initially came up to the main roster in 2019, which would have included high-stakes matchups with John Cena and Brock Lesnar, with one taking place at that year’s WrestleMania. However, later that year the homophobic comments Sullivan had made on a public forum surfaced, and WWE fined him as a result.
The report mentions how a knee injury was Sullivan’s biggest derailing, as he was out for a much longer window of time than previously anticipated. At one point it even seemed the damage was career threatening, and was a much worse experience than Sullivan, who had a history of knee injuries, had ever had prior.
Next came Sullivan’s adult-film, which became the last straw, especially for Vince McMahon who was reportedly one of Sullivan’s biggest supporters. A number of talent even told the publication that McMahon never viewed Sullivan the same after the video was leaked.
Sources also told Fightful Select that the creative direction for Sullivan’s most recent shirtless promos with Michael Colewas unknown, with one major source claiming that it seemed like either “sabotage or a test.”
Stay tuned.