Long before Lars Sullivan became one of WWE’s most intimidating monsters, he was just a 20-year-old wrestling fan named Dylan Miley who learned the hard way that ECW One Night Stand apparently mattered more to him than his relationship.
In a throwback WWE Magazine letter published in 2009, Miley told the story of how his obsession with professional wrestling helped destroy a two-year relationship. The headline alone pretty much gave away the ending: “My Girlfriend Dumped Me Because I Love WWE.” Miley described himself as the high school football jock dating a cheerleader, saying the two actually had plenty in common outside of his wrestling obsession.
“I was the high school football jock and she was the very sexy, 5’4”, 120-pound cheerleader. We were together for two years and matched up perfectly. We both liked sports.”
There was just one major problem. Miley loved WWE. His girlfriend definitely did not. He said he tried bringing her to WWE live events while he returned the favor by going to her volleyball games. That arrangement worked for a while, but Miley admitted wrestling eventually became the thing that drove them apart. Miley then explained exactly what became the breaking point.
“I attempted to get her into WWE by bringing her to live events. She didn’t like them, but they were my treat, so she came anyway. I would go to her high school volleyball games. That was our compromise.”
“The only thing that tore us apart was my obsession with wrestling, and her dislike of big, oily men smashing each other with steel chairs.”
Then came ECW One Night Stand in 2005. Miley traveled to New York City for the event, but there was one serious scheduling problem: his girlfriend’s birthday fell during the trip. According to Miley, she gave him a pretty clear choice — WWE or the relationship. He picked WWE. Miley didn’t exactly agonize over the decision either. He admitted that missing One Night Stand wasn’t even an option in his mind.
“Things finally came to a head when I traveled to New York City for ECW One Night Stand in 2005. Her birthday fell on a day of the trip. Of course, she took it as an insult. She said, ‘If you go, then it’s over.’”
“Honestly, I didn’t care, ’cause I was never gonna miss One Night Stand.”
The future Lars Sullivan eventually returned home and tried to patch things up, but his choice of peace offering probably wasn’t helping his case. He gave his ex-girlfriend an ECW shirt for her birthday.
“After I returned home, I tried to smooth things over. I even gave her a present for her birthday; it was an ECW shirt. We haven’t spoken since.”
Years later, Miley would actually make it to WWE himself, eventually becoming Lars Sullivan and competing on NXT, Raw and SmackDown. That makes the old magazine letter even wilder in hindsight. The guy who once sacrificed a relationship to attend a WWE-connected wrestling event eventually wound up stepping inside a WWE ring himself.
It’s one hell of a throwback, and it also proves Sullivan’s wrestling obsession started long before fans ever saw “The Freak” destroying people on WWE television. He may have lost the girlfriend, but he definitely wasn’t bluffing about how much wrestling meant to him.
Would you have chosen ECW One Night Stand over the relationship, or did Lars Sullivan make an all-time terrible call? Let us know what you think and leave your feedback in the comments.
