In just over a week at Takeover Chicago Lars Sullivan will challenge Aleister Black for the NXT Championship. Fans are worried that this is the typical green big guy being over pushed for the title. I don’t think fans need to worry about that but there are reasons to worry about Sullivan.

Well he has only been a proper on-screen character for less than a year now but when you look at the stories going into Chicago who else is there? All the major players have been paired off in their own stories. The only other person available is EC3 but clearly, they feel it would be too early for him. It’s not a bad idea to have Sullivan challenge Black, as NXT is set up like a territory, and the territories would often build up a monster to be beat by the top star.

I personally find Sullivan quite entertaining as a monster who runs through people especially when he went through a stream of tag partners. With exception of that disaster of a match with Ohno Sullivan has been very protected. I think the issue some fans have with the match is it’s on the same card as Gargano vs Ciampa and Velveteen Dream vs Ricochet. In that, respect it doesn’t really stack up but the key to this match is its execution.

If executed well enough this match could surprise everyone. It needs to be hard hitting right from the off, no rest holds and not go overly long. Black should only just get the win after getting a small opening.

The reason I don’t think he will win the title at this stage because Triple H runs NXT and doesn’t tend to push talents that aren’t fully developed yet.

The big problem with Sullivan losing is the same problem wrestling has had anytime a monster loses for the first time: What do you do next?  It’s difficult for them to feel as dominant as they once were.

What they should do is have him go on an even bigger rampage fueled by the loss. Have him be furious that he came so close to winning title and let it slip through his fingers. The commentators can say Sullivan’s  anger over the loss has made him even more dangerous. This way he has a story to fall back on which most characters like rarely have.

Another reason to worry about him is the possibility of him being over exposed on the main roster. I think he needs to stay in NXT at least until the end of the year. NXT has done a good job of hiding his weakness’s and accentuating the positives. This is helped by the fact that wrestlers don’t need to be on TV every week.

If history has taut us anything it’s that Vince McMahon loves his big sweaty men. Sullivan could suffer the same problem that Lashley did in his first run being called up too early as soon as Vince gets a look at him.

The best way to book him when he’s called up is like Braun Strowman when he got drafted to RAW. A lot of people turned around on Strowman and now he’s one of the most popular characters in WWE. Vince is supposed to be very hands on with Braun’s character so he should apply those same tactics to Sullivan.

Having Sullivan follow a similar path might cause some fans to change their views on Sullivan and he could be a guy to make the company a lot of money in the future.

Anything’s better than having him lose to Reigns after a few months.