Backstage News On Vince McMahon's Mentality With WWE NXT Call-Ups, Handling Lars Sullivan Situation
There's already been a lot of criticism over how WWE has debuted the WWE NXT call-ups (EC3, Lacey Evans, Heavy Machinery, Nikki Cross) with brief backstage segments. Cross did work a tag team match on RAW but she then appeared in a backstage segment with Rey Mysterio on SmackDown. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that Vince McMahon is of the mentality that he just wants people to see the call-ups and their faces on TV.
WWE writers have had to come up with segments where the call-ups are seen in the background. They have not decided on how to use them, or what brand they will be on, but Vince wants people seeing them. Vince reportedly feels that fans will know who the call-ups are once they do come up with main roster plans for them, believing that most of the WWE fans don't know who they are already.
There's no real update on the Lars Sullivan situation but the company is being very supportive of him. As noted, Lars was scheduled to work dark matches in early January but he left the show, reportedly due to an anxiety attack. That incident put his planned WrestleMania 35 match with John Cena up in the air. Lars has reportedly been told that he has the option to return when he is ready. Lars was not mentioned on TV this week but as noted, the WWE website did tease him for SmackDown, which was seen as encouraging.
Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter
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