WWE has come to terms on the release of Steve Cutler. We wish him all the best in his future endeavours.
When WWE announced yesterday the release of Steve Cutler, Lars Sullivan confirmed himself the rumours of a departure from the company. Sullivan has not been removed yet from the WWE website roster page.
Cutler, real name Thomas Maclin, served in the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and also played football for a time before starting his wrestling training in 2012. He was signed by WWE and assigned to NXT the year after. Maclin debuted on June 12, 2014, as Steve Cutler. During the course of 2014, Cutler wrestled in singles and tag matches, with a mixed record of wins and losses. For the course of the first two years, Cutler was involved in enhancement matches featuring many of the wrestlers that would graduate to the main rosters of Monday Night RAW and SmackDown during 2016 and 2017.
Cutler entered a tag team with Wesley Blake beginning on October 21, 2016, edition of NXT. On February 1st, 2018, Cutler and Blake debuted their team name as The Forgotten Sons. All along 2018 and 2019, they would face most of NXT teams, without winning the Tag Team Championship.
The Forgotten Sons were called up to the main roster on the post-WrestleMania 36 edition of SmackDown on FOX. The call-up match saw Cutler and Blake defeat Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik of Lucha House Party, while Ryker watched from ringside. As the stable seemed to be on the ride for the SmackDown Tag Team titles, a controversial tweet from Ryker destroyed their momentum and, two months after their call-up, the Forgotten Sons were removed from TV.
Cutler and Blake briefly returned to television on SmackDown last December as part of Baron Corbin’s “Knights of the Lone Wolf” faction but hadn’t been used lately. Ryker became Elias’ bodyguard on RAW, he made his comeback to the ring in a match against Gran Metalik and has since teamed up with Elias in his war against Jeff Hardy.
Lars Sullivan, real name Dylan Miley, WWE in 2013 and spent several years training at the WWE Performance Center before making his debut on the NXT brand in April 2017. He made his main roster debut on RAW in April 2019, before being moving to SmackDown later that month. Sullivan’s last match came on the October 23 SmackDown show, when he defeated Chad Gable. He defeated Jeff Hardy the week before that, which was his return match. WWE began airing vignettes and sitdown interviews with Lars in late October and November, but nothing ever came of it.
His time in WWE had been a long road made of injuries, mental issues, and the resurfacing of his past controversies. Sullivan spoke with media and confirmed the departure, noting that he was surprised WWE didn’t announce it themselves. Lars chalked the release up to WWE being nice about everything, and he was very complimentary of how the company handled his departure. He added that they released him with “compassion and honesty.” He kept reiterating that he was treated well by the WWE office and locker room, and he wasn’t bullied. He said he is grateful for the experience with WWE.
Sullivan noted that he told WWE he was done with pro wrestling after battling crippling anxiety issues, to the point of struggling to eat during days where they were doing TV tapings. He also had trouble sleeping. Lars lost his father last year, which added to an already tough year for him. He said he is his own worst enemy and owned up to multiple issues that prevented him from gaining traction in what he described as his “dream job.”
Regarding his future, Sullivan also said he’s likely done with pro wrestling. He once again took responsibility for the issues that led to his departure, calling some of his actions “idiocy” and “his own selfish behaviour.”
All pics courtesy of WWE