10 Wrestlers Who No-Showed

4. Lars Sullivan

Steve Austin No Show
WWE.com

Event: WWE TV pre-WrestleMania 35.

What Happened: Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer recently revealed that Lars Sullivan was tentatively in line to wrestle John Cena at WrestleMania 35 in 2019. WWE totally flipped their excitement for that career-boosting match when big Lars no-showed set-up on TV before the event.

What a missed opportunity that was.

Injuries then got in the way of Sullivan's development, but he's since admitted that he suffered from anxiety attacks throughout his run. Meltzer didn't say whether or not that was the reason given to management back in 2019 though - it's possible, especially if Lars was mentally struggling to cope for years.

Cena wound up working a non-wrestling segment with Elias on the pay-per-view, and even returned to his old 'Thuganomics' gimmick for one night. Who knows if he would've done that for the planned match with Sullivan. One thing's for sure: plagued by crippling anxiety issues, Lars missed out on a massive payday and 'Mania moment.

In this post: 
Steve Austin
 
Posted On: 
Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.