Who Is Lars Sullivan? What to Know About WWE’s Newest NXT Call-Up

Lars Sullivan is a classic big man, and perhaps the next big thing in WWE.

After years honing his craft in NXT, Lars Sullivan is ready to become one of WWE’s most popular stars.

The 6'3", 303-pounder got his start with the WWE Performance Center in October of 2014. His first main event, against NXT champion Aleister Black, took place nearly four years later in June 2018 at NXT TakeOver: Chicago. WWE announced during the 2018 Survivor Series that Sullivan would be joining the main roster, but little is known about WWE’s biggest next big thing. 

Age – 30 years old

Born on July 6, 1988 as Dylan Miley in Westminster, Colorado, Sullivan officially broke into the NXT scene on the April 12, 2017 episode of NXT.

Bobby Lashley made the call to WWE for Sullivan

Sullivan is billed from the Rocky Mountains, and for good reason: in addition to growing up in Colorado, he also went to wrestling school in Denver. Sullivan did his base training with Lashley, who was so impressed with the raw talent Sullivan possessed that he called the WWE and pushed that it hire him and mold him into a superstar.

Brock Lesnar has made one trip to the WWE Performance Center ... and it was to work with Lars Sullivan

Sullivan is not a cookie-cutter big man. He has functional strength, meaning that his muscles are not designed for show. So many big men in wrestling look uncoordinated or out of place when taking a fall, but when watching a Sullivan match, it’s easy to see how comfortable and coordinated he is while taking bumps.

Sullivan even affected the notoriously hard-to-impress Brock Lesnar, who made an unprecedented trip to the WWE Performance Center in 2015 specifically to work with Sullivan.

First claim to fame was in the WWE Magazine

Nine years ago, a letter from 20-year-old Dylan Miley was published in the now-defunct WWE Magazine... explaining why his girlfriend dumped him because he loved WWE.

Miley, now known as Sullivan, chose to attend ECW’s One Night Stand show in New York City on June 12 in 2005, instead of staying home for his girlfriend’s birthday. He brought her home a t-shirt home as an apology gift, which she declined. The two haven’t spoke since.

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ECW ran through Sullivan’s veins, with Shane Douglas and Mike Awesome as his two favorites

Listen to Sullivan’s taunts: he taps into a lot of the late Mike Awesome.

The King of Pistol Squats

Sullivan is renowned among his Performance Center peers for workouts, most notably his pistol squats.

Pistol squats are single leg squats, with one leg is in the air during the motion, and require a slow, controlled balance. Sullivan even does the pistol squats on a bosu ball, which is incredibly difficult.

Sullivan has tree trunk-esque legs. His personal record for an overhead squat is 365 pounds, and Sullivan credits his weightlighting regimen for his mobility, flexibility and stability in the ring. All three of those traits were on display this past WrestleMania weekend at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans, where Sullivan had the most impressive night of his young career in the five-way ladder match that crowned the first NXT North American champion.

Never worked the indies

Sullivan is the prototype for the WWE Performance Center, his only home in professional wrestling.

Justin Barrasso can be reached at JBarrasso@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinBarrasso.