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Worst in the World: Lars Sullivan vs Lucha House Party-Super Showdown 2019

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Source: Cageside Seats
Oh Lars, where did it all go wrong?...
Source: Queerty
Yeah, that'll do it.
The WWE career of Lars Sullivan was quite the messy, messy journey. After a fairly solid stint in NXT which included his participation in the 5-star ladder match for the North American Championship (Daniel Bryan and Cesaro have never got a 5-star rating in WWE from Dave Meltzer, but LARS SULLIVAN has...wild), Sullivan got the call up to the main roster and was set to debut in January...except he didn't due to an anxiety attack. He'd eventually debut the night after WrestleMania 35, attacking the recently retired Kurt Angle, and looked set to receive a monster push. That was before things got really ugly. Four months after his debut, Sullivan's past activities on a Bodybuilding.com forum (compiled here in a Reddit post. Fair warning, it's not pleasant) came to light. And needless to say, Sullivan wasn't using the forum to debate how many days there are in a week. 
Sullivan littered the forum with vile posts ranging from blatantly racist, sexist, homophobic, and xenophobic statements, to mocking drug addiction and mental illness, to writing things so terrible that posting them here would almost certainly get my blog taken down. Sullivan did apologize and was sent to sensitivity training by WWE, who also fined him $100,000, but Sullivan was never going to recover from this. Despite that, Sullivan continued to get a push on TV until a severe knee injury took him out of action for 16 months. He'd return in late 2020 and seemed set to pick up where he left off before disappearing from TV after two matches and, just last week, it was revealed that Sullivan asked for his release in January and has now retired from wrestling. 
Thus, his first WWE pay-per-view match was also his last. One of Sullivan's only real feuds during his entire career, and his only main roster feud, saw him square off with the entire Lucha House Party of Kalisto, Gran Metalik, and Lince Dorado. Keep in mind that this feud started at Money in the Bank 2019, which happened less than two weeks after these posts, which include disparaging remarks about Hispanics and Mexicans, were found. Not a great look for WWE. After Sullivan attacked Lucha House Party before their unscheduled (i.e. non-existent) match at Money in the Bank, a 3-on-1 Handicap match was booked for Super Showdown 2019, WWE's third show as part of their 10-year deal with Saudi Arabia, aka, the deal that just keeps giving me content. Let's get into it.
Kalisto starts the match for the Lucha House Party, with Lars quickly taking him to the corner with shoulder blocks. Lars follows up with a club to the back followed by Snake Eyes. Sullivan tosses Kalisto in his corner, allowing Lince Dorado to tag in. Dorado fairs better than Kalisto, landing some strikes in the corner before Sullivan floors him with a palm strike. Sullivan goes for a powerbomb, but Dorado avoids it, only for Sullivan to throw him out of the ring. Sullivan throws Dorado back in the ring before hitting a shoulder block. Sullivan carries Dorado back to the corner and, in a moment that legitimately floored me the first time I saw it, pie faces Kalisto right off the apron for no reason.
Add that to the collection of shoot assholes in wrestling comically beating up smaller men for fun. 
Gran Metalik tags in as Sullivan shoves Dorado out of the ring, allowing Metalik to hit a few enziguris, first from ringside as Sullivan leans through the ropes, then from the apron, before springboarding into the to hit a handspring back elbow. Metalik follows up with a few kicks before tagging in Kalisto, whose springboard attempt gets caught by Sullivan. He manages to land on his feet off a fallaway attempt and catches Sullivan with a few boots, but gets caught with a body block when he goes for a move off the second rope. Sullivan charges at Kalisto against the ropes, but Kalisto pulls the ropes down and sends him to the outside. Kalisto tries to make the hot tag to Metalik, but Sullivan sprints back into the ring and knocks him off the apron. Kalisto catches him with an up kick, only for Sullivan to respond with a deadlift belly-to-back powerbomb.
Sullivan beats down Kalisto with cross faces before going to the top rope, only for Dorado & Metalik to knock him down to the mat. The two beat down Sullivan before the referee calls for the DQ. Sullivan tries to fight back, but the numbers overwhelm him, with Kalisto holding his legs down as Dorado hits a top rope splash and Metalik hits a diving elbow drop. Despite that, Sullivan gets back to his feet as the Lucha House Party tries to leave, backdropping Metalik before clotheslining Kalisto and chucking Dorado down the ramp. Sullivan follows up with a press slam onto the ramp for Kalisto before Dorado tries to fight back with a springboard. It goes poorly as Sullivan catches him and hits the Freak Accident, a delayed-Uranage, on the apron. Sullivan stands tall and screams at Metalik before heading to the back.

The Verdict

Admittedly, this match is not really that bad. There are no botches and it's fairly short. However, what hurts this match, in the long run, is the finish. There was no reason, from a booking standpoint, that Sullivan should not have won this match straight up. Obviously Lars Sullivan, the real person, and his past are terrible, and I won't sit here and pretend he was a great wrestler, but if you're going to push him as an unstoppable monster, it doesn't make any sense for him to get a cheap win here. It's not like they needed to protect the Lucha House Party. Does this match deserve zero stars like Dave Meltzer gave it? Probably not, but its bad booking definitely knocks it down in the rankings a bit.

Rankings (Best to Worst)

  1. Rick Rude vs Jake Roberts-WrestleMania IV
  2. Too Much vs Al Snow & Head-King of the Ring 1998
  3. Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns-Greatest Royal Rumble
  4. Shane McMahon vs Eric Bischoff-SummerSlam 2003
  5. The Tag Team Gauntlet-Extreme Rules 2010
  6. Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 33
  7. Vampiro vs Sting-Great American Bash 2000
  8. T&A vs Head Cheese-WrestleMania 2000
  9. Triple H vs Sgt. Slaughter-D-Generation X: In Your House
  10. Konnan vs One Man Gang-SuperBrawl VI
  11. Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules-WrestleMania IV
  12. Rick Rude vs Hawk-Clash of the Champions XXV
  13. Shelton Benjamin vs Viscera-New Year's Revolution 2006
  14. Steve McMichael vs Reggie White-Slamboree 1997
  15. Lars Sullivan vs Lucha House Party-Super Showdown 2019
  16. Alexa Bliss vs Bayley-Extreme Rules 2017
  17. The Tag Team Fatal 4-Way Match-WrestleMania 13
  18. Tag Team Battle Royal-WrestleMania XIV
  19. The Chamber of Horrors-Halloween Havoc 1991
  20. The Natural Disasters vs Money Inc.-WrestleMania VIII
  21. Ivan Koloff vs Paul Jones-Clash of the Champions IV
  22. ODB, Taylor Wilde, and Roxxi vs The Kongtourage-Genesis 2009
  23. Ivory vs Tori-SummerSlam 1999
  24. Giant Baba vs Bulldog Bob Brown-WrestleRock
  25. The Reverse Battle Royal-Impact! (10/26/2006)
  26. Jerry Blackwell vs Boris Zhukov-SuperClash II
  27. Nikita Koloff vs Bobby Eaton-Bunkhouse Stampede
  28. Alex Wright vs Steve McMichael-Halloween Havoc 1997
  29. The Great Khali vs Kane-WrestleMania 23
  30. Savio Vega vs Crush vs Faarooq-Ground Zero: In Your House
  31. The Shockmaster vs Awesome/King Kong-Starrcade 1993
  32. Total Divas vs Other Divas-Survivor Series 2013
  33. The Oddities vs Kaientai-SummerSlam 1998
  34. Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice-WrestleMania VIII
  35. Paul Ellering vs Teddy Long-Capital Combat
  36. Dusty Rhodes vs Big Boss Man-Saturday Night's Main Event (10/31/1989)
  37. Tyson Tomko vs Stevie Richards-Unforgiven 2004
  38. Kane vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2009
  39. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Hog Wild
  40. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Souled Out 1997
  41. Dustin Rhodes & King Kong vs Awesome Kong & The Equalizer-Battlebowl
  42. Finlay & Little Bastard vs The Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman-No Way Out 2007
  43. Jake Roberts vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania V
  44. Yokozuna vs King Mabel-In Your House 4
  45. Dusty Rhodes vs The Honky Tonk Man-SummerSlam 1989
  46. Sting & Hawk vs Meng & Kurasawa-Clash of the Champions XXXI
  47. Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage-Uncensored 1998
  48. Al Snow vs Big Boss Man-Unforgiven 1999
  49. Mickie James vs Ashley-Royal Rumble 2006
  50. Christy Hemme vs Big Fat Oily Guy-Against All Odds 2007
  51. Stevie Ray vs Konnan-World War 3 1998
  52. Vampiro vs The KISS Demon-Bash at the Beach 2000
  53. Team WCW vs nWo Wolfpac vs nWo Hollywood-Fall Brawl 1998
  54. Vampiro vs Oklahoma-Starrcade 1999
  55. Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania III
  56. Jinder Mahal vs Randy Orton-Battleground 2017
  57. Van Hammer vs Terrance Taylor-Clash of the Champions XVI
  58. Junkyard Dog vs Moondog Spot-Wrestling Classic
  59. Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania 33
  60. The Undertaker vs Goldberg-Super ShowDown 2019
  61. Hiroshi Wajima vs Tom Magee-All Japan Pro Wrestling 1988
  62. Jim Duggan vs Big Boss Man-Royal Rumble 1990
  63. Meng vs Jim Duggan-Uncensored 1995
  64. Jim Steele vs The Equalizer-SuperBrawl IV
  65. The Undertaker vs Giant González-WrestleMania IX
  66. Sting vs Tony Palmore-Battle 7
  67. D-Generation X vs Brothers of Destruction-Crown Jewel
  68. Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai-WrestleMania
  69. Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar-WrestleMania XX
  70. Edge vs Triple H vs Vladimir Kozlov-Survivor Series 2008
  71. Kevin Sullivan vs Dave Sullivan-SuperBrawl V
  72. Steve McMichael vs Brian Adams-Road Wild 1998
  73. Scott Hall vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl IX
  74. Boris Zhukov vs Paul Samson-Beach Brawl
  75. Roddy Piper vs Hollywood Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1997
  76. Kane vs The Great Khali-Breaking Point
  77. Hollywood Hogan & Dennis Rodman vs Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone-Bash at the Beach 1998
  78. PN News & Bobby Eaton vs Steve Austin & Terrance Taylor-Great American Bash 1991
  79. Scott Steiner vs Sid Vicious vs Jeff Jarrett vs Road Warrior Animal-Sin
  80. Hollywood Hogan vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl 1997
  81. Batista vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2007
  82.  Sable vs Tori-WrestleMania XV
  83. Super Invader vs Todd Champion-WrestleWar 1992
  84. Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez-Crown Jewel 2019
  85. King Kong Bundy & Jim Neidhart vs Yokozuna & Jake Roberts-Heroes of Wrestling
  86. Sid Vicious vs The Nightstalker-Clash of the Champions XIII
  87. The 8-Divas Tag Match-Survivor Series 1999
  88. The Fabulous Freebirds vs The Renegade Warriors-Halloween Havoc 1990
  89. The Knockouts Gauntlet-One Night Only: Live! 2016
  90. AJ Styles vs Frank Trigg-No Surrender 2008
  91. Rick Rude vs Masahiro Chono-Halloween Havoc 1992
  92. Mike Awesome vs Vampiro-Halloween Havoc 2000
  93. Bray Wyatt vs John Cena-Extreme Rules 2014
  94. Brothers of Destruction vs KroniK-Unforgiven 2001
  95. Mabel vs The Undertaker-King of the Ring 1995
  96. Wendi Richter vs The Fabulous Moolah-The Brawl to End it All
  97. David Flair vs Kimberly Page-Mayhem 1999
  98. The Truth Commission vs The Disciples of Apocolypse-Survivor Series 1997
  99. Daffney vs Miss Hancock-Bash at the Beach 2000
  100. The Bushwhacker vs The Fabulous Rougeaus-WrestleMania V
  101. The Beverly Brothers vs The Bushwhackers-Royal Rumble 1992
  102. Teddy Long vs Eric Bischoff-Survivor Series 2005
  103. Greg Valentine vs George Steele-Heroes of Wrestling
  104. Abdullah the Butcher vs One Man Gang-Heroes of Wrestling
  105. Major Gunns vs Miss Hancock-New Blood Rising
  106. Bradshaw & Trish Stratus vs Christopher Nowinski & Jackie Gayda-RAW (7/8/2002)
  107. Triple H vs Scott Steiner-Royal Rumble 2003
  108. Santina Marella vs Vickie & Chavo Guerrero-Extreme Rules 2009
  109. Kevin Nash vs Scott Steiner vs Goldberg-New Blood Rising
  110. Hollywood Hogan vs The Warrior-Halloween Havoc 1998
  111. Mr. T vs Roddy Piper-WrestleMania 2
  112. The Royal Family vs Clowns R' Us-Survivor Series 1994
  113. The House of Horrors Match-Payback 2017
  114. The Blacktop Bully vs Dustin Rhodes-Uncensored 1995
  115. Team Dos Caras vs Team El Canek-Leyendas Mexicanas 2017
  116. Pat Patterson vs Gerald Brisco-King of the Ring 2000
  117. The Four Doinks vs Team Bigelow-Survivor Series 1993
  118. Sting vs Jeff Hardy-Victory Road 2011
  119. Oz vs Tim Parker-SuperBrawl
  120. Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2018
  121. Brock Lesnar vs Ricochet-Super ShowDown 2020
  122. The Mighty Maccabee vs The Iron Sheik-Maccabiah Mania II: Shekel Slam
  123. Van Hammer vs Doug Somers-Halloween Havoc 1991
  124. Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant-Saturday Night's Main Event (11/25/1989)
  125. Jeff Jarrett vs Sting-Halloween Havoc 2000
  126. The Doomsday Cage Match-Uncensored 1996
  127. Kane vs The Undertaker-Judgement Day 1998
  128. Rebel vs Shelly Martinez-One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown
  129. Kaitlyn vs Maxine-NXT (10/19/2010)
  130. Sabu vs The Sandman-November to Remember 1997
  131. Seth Rollins vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Hell in a Cell 2019
  132. Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler-WrestleMania XXVII
  133. The Bushwhackers vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff-Heroes of Wrestling
  134. James Storm vs Chris Harris-Lockdown 2007
  135. John Laurinaitis vs John Cena-Over the Limit 2012
  136. Hulk Hogan vs The Giant-Halloween Havoc 1995
  137. Ultimate Warrior vs Goldust-In Your House 7
  138. Los Villanos vs Los Psycho Circus-Triplemania XXIII
  139. Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell-Victory Road 2009
Thanks for reading! Be sure to share if you enjoy and leave any suggestions for matches you'd like to see covered in the Worst in the World in the comments. Until next time...
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