WWE Needs To Fix The Vision, And It’s Pretty Obvious How They Can Do It

I’m ready to admit this whole Vision thing isn’t working. I’ve been reluctant to say it out loud because there have been random moments in which it has worked. There are some things about it that do work. On an individual level, I believe in every single performer involved, but I just can’t watch them repeatedly do their finishing moves to someone else at the end of Raw another twenty-five times. It’s lifeless and boring, but thankfully, it’s pretty obvious how WWE can fix it.

We need weekly television time devoted to exploring the interpersonal relationships of the actual group members and some levity. Sure, we get some conversations about strategy and some arguments with Adam Pearce about their behavior and suspensions, but there’s almost never any conflict or even humor between the actual members. It’s all soooooo serious, which is rarely the right way to get a stable over.

Why Judgment Day And The Bloodline Worked

Let’s take OG Judgment Day as an example. What are the moments and plotlines that stand out most vividly about their run? I would argue it’s first and foremost, the Rhea Ripley, Dominik Mysterio and Liv Morgan drama. Then, I would say it’s Damian Priest’s cash-in at WrestleMania 40. Then I’d go with the fantastic R-Truth and JD McDonagh plotline where they argued about who was actually in Judgment Day. Then I’d pick Dominik Mysterio getting arrested during the white hot feud with his dad and getting sent to jail (for a few hours). Then I’d pick Edge getting attacked and booted from the group.

With the exception of Damian Priest’s epic cash-in, all of those memorable moments were plotlines in which the personalities of the individual members and the relationships between them were highlighted. Even Priest’s big moment was made all the better by how the whole group met him on the entrance ramp and celebrated like a happy family.

Ultimately, the individual personalities got so over that Rhea and Priest had to turn face. Dominik, despite still being a heel, got cheered like a prime Hulk Hogan when he won the Intercontinental Championship at ‘Mania 41. Fans are right now screaming about Finn Bálor, wanting Triple H and Bruce Prichard to turn him face and push him harder and even JD McDonagh, who was once considered a fringe guy who might not last on the main roster, has turned into a well-respected worker (and personal favorite of mine) that was getting singles matches before his recent injury.

None of that happened because Triple H put them into a lot of Raw main events. None of that happened because they beat a lot of people up and had their way with the babyfaces each week. All that success and love from the fans happened because they regularly gave us fun and memorable plots that explored the personalities and interpersonal relationships of the characters.

I won’t spend nearly as much time going into the OG Bloodline, but you could do this exact same exercise. It’s the stuff with Sami Zayn desperately trying to win approval that we remember. It’s the complicated and evolving relationship between Roman Reigns and Jey Uso that stands out. It’s Big Jim’s goofy, happy go lucky attitude, even when everyone else was trying to be serious. It was Paul Heyman’s faces and wondering where Solo fit in the hierarchy.

It was wondering who was going to turn on who and when it was going to happen. All of that is why it made sense to have Cody Rhodes lose and spend another year trying to finish his story. We liked watching the villains too damn much.

What To Do With The Vision Next

Almost a year into The Vision, we have gotten a few positives. Seth Rollins getting kicked out of the group was, without question, a total WTF surprise that fans loved. The former leader's much-discussed fake injury was fantastic. Bronson Reed’s Tribal Thief plot where he stole Roman Reigns’ shoes was also a fantastic bit of business, and not surprisingly, led to the best reactions of Bronson’s career. Bron Breakker has also given us a few nice promos, and there have been some good argument style segments with Adam Pearce, which have often involved Paul Heyman. But for being arguably the A story on Monday Night Raw for nine months, that’s not anywhere close to enough, and the momentum seems to be going in the wrong direction.

The good news is The Vision has both the charismatic personalities and the opportunity to start righting the ship. Logan Paul already has a well-established character and is capable of so much more than just being a background guy in Vision segments. WWE needs to make him a much more proactive part of the storyline.

Can we trust that he puts The Vision’s interests ahead of his own? How “seriously” is he taking the wrestling business versus his podcast career? Does he think he’s better than everyone else? Maybe he accidentally on purpose eliminates Bron Breakker during the Rumble and we explore that?

Bronson Reed is also someone who needs way more to do. He thrived in his storyline against Roman Reigns. As an action figure collector, I would immediately preorder an Elite or Ultimate of him with Roman’s shoes around his neck. I loved that storyline and then it ended and he went back to having no personality outside being in The Vision.

Give him a goal to go after. Let him win a midcard championship and make some backhanded comments about how he’s the only one in the group with some gold. Or just give him a plotline where he’s mad about making less money than Bron or he’s sleeping with Adam Pearce’s sister or he spins a wheel every week to figure out which lower card guy he’s gonna beat up.

Outside of Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, Paul Heyman is, to me, the greatest manager in the history of the business, but he’s been an uneasy fit here so far. We need to explore the dynamic between him and the other group members and test how much power he really has. He’s talked a lot, but he hasn’t really helped to get the stable over yet.

We need something different from him, and we need to explore why Austin Theory is there. I still believe in Theory, despite all the bad booking. His trajectory has been a lot more uncertain since Vince left, but I think he has the in-ring skills and charisma to be a top guy. He should be up to some shenanigans every week. Let him show his personality!

We’re just days away from The Royal Rumble. My full predictions are out, and I do not think Bron Breakker is going to win. To be honest, I don’t think he should. There’s a lot more intrigue and character work in losing, but WWE needs to give us a nuanced and interesting story to take advantage of that. Having them get mad and beat more people up is not the answer. We need interpersonal dynamics. We need levity. We need the ingredients WWE has been using to be build better, more memorable stables for generations.