6 Ups & 2 Downs For WWE Raw (20 Oct - Results & Review)

Downs…

2. A Down Night For The Vision

Coming out of last week’s Raw, conventional wisdom would have pointed to The Vision taking center stage to explain their actions and chart a new path for the group as they try to exert their influence.

Instead, the group had a meek, ineffective night that saw them hand over the World Heavyweight Championship, take some swipes at Seth Rollins, and then get punked out by Raw GM Adam Pearce before timidly bowing out of the show.

Paul Heyman used his opening segment promo to attack Rollins for being unable to “shoulder” the burden of leading his stable into the future, putting over Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed as the future of the WWE. It was a bog standard heel promo that broke little new ground and didn’t exactly give solid direction to what was next for the group beyond the usual “main-event WrestleManias” and win titles.

Then Pearce nixed the duo from the battle royal as punishment for embarrassing him in the ring, leaving them with little role to play in the remainder of the show. Backstage later, Breakker griped that the group came to Raw with the world title in tow, and they had handed it over and had no spot in the match to determine the next champion.

Heyman opted to basically weave a tale of younger versions of Brock Lesnar, CM Punk and Roman Reigns listening to him and trusting him on the path to superstardom. This led Bron to simply remark that he “has a lot to learn… and a lot of people to hurt.”

And that was it.

Clearly, the world title picture was the priority Monday night, and that was a mistake. The Vision bouncing their leader was the biggest story that demanded attention Monday night, and it got a cursory “he was a bum who couldn’t hack it” explanation before the group got neutered for the night. They will need a bounce-back night next week if they’re going to remain the top heel faction on Raw.