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What's the story?
During the latest installment of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, respected Pro Wrestling expert Dave Meltzer reported that the original plan for NXT Takeover's New Orleans main-event was for Lars Sullivan to face-off against Andrade "Cien" Almas in the NXT Championship match.
In case you didn't know…
WWE has been recently building Lars Sullivan as the next big thing in NXT. Lars Sullivan has been on a destructive path ever since making his NXT debut in 2017. The 303-pound monster has been demolishing the likes of marquee names such as Kassius Ohno, Lio Rush, and No Way Jose down at WWE’s developmental territory, that is, NXT.
The heart of the matter
Dave Meltzer reported on the latest installment of Wrestling Observer Radio that the original plans for the NXT Championship match at Takeover: New Orleans would have seen Lars Sullivan challenging Almas for NXT’s top prize at the Smoothie King Center during Wrestlemania 34 week. However, those plans have now been seemingly changed at the very last minute, as WWE has now instead decided to book a match between Aleister Black and Almas for the Championship at Takeover: New Orleans.
Additionally, Meltzer also opened up and explained how WWE has been booking Lars Sullivan as the next big monster in NXT and have been pushing Sullivan pretty hard. However, as it was noted recently, Sullivan has not been spotted at the WWE Performance Center of late and also has not been spotted at their house shows.
What's next?
Recent rumours have speculated that Sullivan might actually be sidelined with an injury, forcing NXT management to make the latest changes on the Takeover card, instead adding Black as an adequate replacement in his absence.
Author's take
I believe that the right choice as of right now will be to have Black challenge and actually win the NXT Championship at WrestleMania weekend because personally, I feel Sullivan just is not ready to win the big one in NXT just yet.
