5 things you didn't know about NXT Superstar Lars Sullivan

Standing at 6ft 2in tall and weighing in at 306 lbs, NXT Superstar Lars Sullivan has all the attributes to be a major success on WWE’s main roster one day.

“The Leviathan” defeated Kassius Ohno in the biggest match of his career at TakeOver: War Games in November 2017 and has continued to wreak havoc on NXT programming in the weeks leading up to TakeOver: Philadelphia.

So far, all we know about Sullivan is that he’s one of the hottest prospects to come out of NXT in a long time and that he is often compared to Braun Strowman and Brock Lesnar. However, fans haven't been given too much information about the man behind the character.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at five things about Lars, real name Dylan Miley, that you probably haven’t heard before.

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#5 He was signed by WWE at the same time as Carmella

Carmella has been on the main roster since July 2016

Although Lars Sullivan is believed to have started at the Performance Center in October 2014, he was officially signed by WWE after an impressive tryout in October 2013.

That’s the same time that WWE decided to take a chance on former New England Patriots and Los Angeles Lakers cheerleader Leah Van Dale, now known to fans as Carmella.

While Sullivan’s in-ring career on NXT television is just getting started, “The Princess of States Island” has been a regular presence on our screens over the last three years and became the first-ever women’s Money In The Bank winner in June 2017.

#4 Triple H predicted in 2014 that he would succeed

Triple H has high expectations for Lars Sullivan

When NXT patriarch Triple H highlights someone as a star of the future, you just know we’re going to be seeing them on our screens for years and years to come.

In December 2014, the night of NXT TakeOver: R Evolution, HHH tweeted a cryptic picture comparing his hand to someone else’s, accompanied by a caption claiming that “This fist could change everything”.

Almost three years on from the tweet, “The Game” revealed in November 2017 that the mysterious hand belonged to none other than Lars Sullivan.

The Colorado native hasn’t changed everything yet, but from what fans have seen so far, it’s no surprise that his boss had such high hopes for him.

#3 He reportedly trained with Brock Lesnar in 2015

Not many people impress Brock Lesnar!

It was widely reported following WrestleMania 31 that Brock Lesnar caught a glimpse of Lars Sullivan, then going by the in-ring name of Dylan Miley, at WrestleMania Axxess and was “blown away” by the rookie’s talent.

This apparently led to “The Beast” being flown out to the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida to have a one-on-one training session with the NXT Superstar.

As fans of Lesnar will know, he’s not one to go out of his way to mix with other people within WWE, so he must have been very impressed by Sullivan – a former football player who has also practised mixed martial arts – to want to train with him.

#2 He appeared on Raw in 2012

Look who was in the crowd for Bob Backlund's return in 2012!

In the summer of 2012, WWE was building up to Monday Night Raw’s 1,000th episode by having Heath Slater face multiple legends in one-on-one matches.

One week, Slater lost a match to Sin Cara and was then confronted by former WWE champion Bob Backlund, who received “You still got it!” chants from the crowd before locking in a Crossface chickenwing on the former tag champ.

Among those at ringside, as you can see in the picture above, was Lars Sullivan, wearing an ‘Austin 3:16’ shirt and standing head and shoulders above the rest of the WWE Universe!

#1 His girlfriend dumped him because he loved WWE more than her

A 20-year-old Lars Sullivan featured in WWE Magazine

You’d be forgiven for thinking that Lars Sullivan is just another athlete-turned-wrestler who knew little about the crazy world of sports entertainment before signing for WWE.

However, it turns out he has been a huge wrestling fan for much of his life – such a huge fan, in fact, that a hilarious story about him and his girlfriend, pictured above, featured in WWE Magazine in 2008.

If your reading device can't zoom in enough to read the article, then fear not. Here it is in print:

DYLAN MILEY, 20, OF ARVADA, CO. EXPLAINS WHY NO WOMAN, NO MATTER HOW HOT, CAN COME BETWEEN HIM AND HIS LOVE OF THE SQUARED CIRCLE

“I was the high school football jock and she was the very sexy, 5’4, 120-pound cheerleader. We were together for two years and matched up perfectly. We both liked sports. I attempted to get her into WWE by bringing her to live events. She didn’t like them, but they were my treat, so, she came anyway.

“I would go to her high school volleyball games. That was our compromise. The only thing that tore us apart was my obsession with wrestling, and her dislike of big, oily men smashing each other with steel chairs.

“Things finally came to a head when I travelled to New York City for ECW One Night Stand in 2005. Her birthday fell on a day of the trip. Of course, she took it as an insult. She said, ‘If you go, then it’s over’. Honestly, I didn’t care, ‘cause I was never gonna miss One Night Stand. After I returned home, I tried to smooth things over. I even gave her a present for her birthday; it was an ECW shirt. We haven’t spoken since.”