Lars Sullivan has been “fined” $100,000 by WWE for racist and misogynistic comments that he made online dating back several years before he was employed by the company.
I put the word “fined” in quotes because, this is wrestling, and you hear all the times about performers being “fined” for various transgressions, though wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer is convinced that this is an actual fine, and a significant one for someone like Sullivan, who was called up to the main roster late last year, and hasn’t yet hit his stride there.
But it appears that big things are planned for Sullivan, who Meltzer said today on his podcast is being groomed for a sort of Brock Lesnar role, which says a lot about the thinking with Sullivan being worth “fining” rather than just outright cutting ties with him, for having written things like:
- Some blacks want to take advantage of their great grandparents misfortunes, and they want a piece of the pity pie. Instead of taking some personal responsibility, they choose to attack the white man and say we must take care of them financially.
- When immigrants (particularly of the illegal persuasion coming from our neighbors down south) hear that we are “land of the free”, to them that means they get free stuff.
- There is a clear political divide among the races. The democrats essentially bribing minorities for votes is the root cause of this problem.
- If we’re going off scientific facts, obviously wither Hispanic or Blackwomen. Who pops out the most babies at the youngest age? Hispanics followed by blacks. Why do 50% of black women have STD’s? SLOOTS.
- On the flip side I will ask what are Kofi and R Truth supposed to be? A PG black panther stable? I always wondered why they had to team up two black guys. Both those guys look like they could be in a prison black gang.
Woo, boy. Yeah. Pretty vile stuff.
The issue had apparently first come to light last year, and WWE addressed the matter internally, the details of which aren’t known publicly, but we can presume didn’t include the “fine” or the added sensitivity training.
There’s a line of thought, being advocated by Meltzer, among others, that the comments should be viewed as “trolling” as opposed to reflecting his true views, which is ridiculous on its face. Sullivan, real name Dylan Miley, is 30 years old, so he was in his late-teens to mid-20s when he made these comments, hardly a babe in the woods.
There’s also outrage being generated over WWE fining Sullivan for comments made before his employment by the company, outrage that fails to recognize the seriousness of the situation.
WWE faced intense backlash from fans and sponsors, most notably Mars Wrigley, forcing the company’s hand in terms of at least making a PR move in doing something to address the Sullivan situation.
The question, to me, is whether Lars Sullivan is worth the hit that WWE is taking, even with the “fine.”
WWE surely needs to have something in place in terms of succession planning for the inevitable retirement of Lesnar, who continues to be a meal ticket despite his limited schedule and limited workrate in the ring the past few years.
The idea that Sullivan can be the “next Lesnar” is laughable, in that Lesnar’s appeal is his inherent realness, as a former NCAA and UFC champion with crossover appeal as being a legit shooter.
Sullivan doesn’t have that background; he just looks the part, and fans aren’t going to buy into him being legit no matter how hard WWE pushes and books him.
I presume that Sullivan ultimately gets a push that includes the rub from Lesnar in terms of a clean pinfall win that will be part of an effort to get him over with fans.
Nothing from what I’ve seen of him in the ring makes me think him worthy of such a rub. The nonsense that he clearly carries with him in terms of his narrow world view is a millstone around him even deserving a midcard spot.
Column by Chris Graham
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