WWE Teases Lars Sullivan Joining SmackDown LIVE

WWE aired a vignette last week letting us know that Lars Sullivan is coming soon to either Raw or SmackDown LIVE. While we still don’t know which brand he’ll end up on, Sullivan is now being touted as a “free agent.”

Before WWE aired the above vignette on Raw this week, Michael Cole referred to Sullivan as a “free agent” and said both General Managers are vying for his services. WWE’s description of the video reads: “One of the most sought-after free agents in WWE history will soon be heading to Raw or SmackDown LIVE.”

WWE continued hyping the arrival of Sullivan on last night’s episode of SmackDown LIVE. Before airing the same vignette again, the commentators hyped Sullivan as a hot free agent. Tom Phillips called Sullivan a game changer and said that he is being actively pursued by Raw and SmackDown management.

The video that aired last night is titled “Could Lars Sullivan be coming to Team Blue?”

It doesn’t appear that WWE has firm plans in place for Sullivan other than to give him a big push upon his debut.

“There is no specific destination or major program formulated, but the plan is for him to get a super push. He is the Vince McMahon kind of guy,” Dave Meltzer said last week in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Meltzer also noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE plans on pushing Sullivan like how they initially brought up Braun Strowman (when he joined Raw in 2016), with squash matches demonstrating his brute power and aggression before moving onto deeper storylines and feuds. This is pretty much how WWE handled Sullivan’s introduction to NXT.

“So there’s no destination for Lars Sullivan you know like, ‘Oh he’s gonna feud with Braun Strowman’ or he may or whatever. Very much like he’s not… the plan is that, and again, god only knows… but the plan is he’s getting a big-time push just like Braun Strowman did almost exactly because I bet you do they do the exact same thing because they’re very patterned right now which isn’t a good thing,” Meltzer said (h/t RingsideNews.com).

“But I’m betting that they do the exact same thing like they did with Braun Strowman years ago that they’ll do with Lars and try to you know but yeah, he’s Vince’s kinda guy.”

While he awaits his main roster debut, Sullivan is currently embroiled in a feud with Keith Lee. After squashing enhancement wrestler Keita Murray on last week’s episode of NXT, Sullivan continued to attack his opponent until Lee came out to make the save by knocking him out of the ring with the pounce.

Sullivan and Lee almost came to blows again later in the night in the locker room, prompting NXT General Manager William Regal to announce that the two giants will face off this Wednesday on WWE Network. Here is WWE.com’s preview for the match:

“Lars Sullivan will find out what it’s like to fight someone his own size when he collides with Keith Lee on NXT.

“The two pugilistic pachyderms came to blows last week when Lee stopped Sullivan from carrying out a post-match beatdown on a defeated opponent. The 320-pound Lee pounced the 330-pound Sullivan out of the ring (aka “Lars Sullivan Territory”) in one of the few documented instances of The Freak being physically overwhelmed. Following the confrontation, both Superstars had to be separated in the locker room.

“Lee has been unstoppable and undefeated since coming to NXT, while Sullivan has been on a path of destruction as he searches for another NXT Title opportunity. Which super-heavyweight will be left standing this week on WWE Network?”

Rare photos of Lars Sullivan outside the ring →