The vision has been clouded. After weeks of doubts and questions about what would happen if Seth Rollins lost at Crown Jewel, Rollins did what was necessary to beat Cody Rhodes on Saturday. This cost him immediately. Bron Breakker, with a shocking speech, provoked Seth Rollins at the end of “Raw”, sending The Vision’s trio to the rearview mirror. This was particularly surprising, as Rollins began “Raw” by effusively praising Breakker, Bronson Reed, and Paul Heyman individually. The big unexpected break culminated a show full of unexpected twists. Here are the highlights from the last day of WWE in Perth, Australia:
“Raw” Results from October 13th
- Intercontinental Champion, Dominik Mysterio, defeats Penta by pinfall.
- Rhea Ripley defeats Kairi Sane by pinfall.
- Bronson Reed defeats Jimmy Uso by pinfall.
- Bayley and Lyra Valkyria defeat Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez by pinfall.
- CM Punk defeats LA Knight and Jey Uso.
A Vision Breakup So Soon?
Rollins opened the show with a solid promo celebrating Breakker, Reed, and Heyman, but the absence of Heyman’s ultimatum before Crown Jewel, to abandon Rollins if he lost against Rhodes, was notable. In fact, Rollins doubled down, saying later in the program: “This is the top of the mountain… rarefied air.” Now he needs an oxygen mask at the top, because Breakker and Reed have put a target on his back. The collapse of The Vision was certainly a big surprise, first because it happened immediately after CM Punk won a triple threat match against Jey Uso and LA Knight to position himself as the number 1 contender for Rollins’ World Heavyweight Champion title. Secondly, Heyman raised Reed and Breakker’s arms after their attack on Rollins, seemingly leaving Rollins alone and shattered. With adversaries in every corner and no one on his side, the water is dangerous for the Visionary and his hopes of remaining World Heavyweight Champion. We question the timing of this attack. Breakker is a future world champion and Reed has earned incredible victories over Roman Reigns, but this rivalry feels sudden and premature. Perhaps an extra layer of intrigue was needed in the Punk vs. Rollins saga? Perhaps the Brons will cost Rollins his world title and then face each other?More conclusions from “Raw”
Dominik Mysterio continues to find cunning but clever ways to retain his Intercontinental Championship. Against Penta, he distracted the timekeeper to steal the hammer, then placed his Intercontinental title in the middle of the ring. While the referee was busy clearing the belt from the ring, Mysterio hit Penta in the knee with the hammer and then tucked it into his boot to execute a 619 and a frog splash to retain his title. These clever “by a hair” victories continue to work well on screen and entertain WWE crowds, who count 1-2-3 along with the referees and cheer on Dom’s antics. The Kabuki Warriors have implosion written all over them, but for now, they’re hanging on by a thread. Asuka yelled at and slapped Kairi Sane before Sane’s match with Rhea Ripley, which Sane lost. But Asuka got revenge by applying a DDT to Ripley on the commentary table, and the scene ended with Asuka arm-in-arm with Sane over Ripley. Do these two teams (Ripley and Iyo Sky and The Kabuki Warriors) find three more partners and fight at Survivor Series: WarGames on November 29? In the last 48 hours, Reed and Ripley have a 4-0 record against the local crowds. What kind of alternate WWE universe are we living in?Do you remember the character Festus in the 2000s? He was kind and gentle, but as soon as a bell rang and he heard it, he turned into a monster. It seems that Bayley has a version of that going on. Lyra Valkyria received the happy version of Bayley when they entered their match with Judgment Day, but Valkyria needed the vicious Bayley, so she slapped her to unlock her evil, which led to victory. As WWE commentator Michael Cole pointed out, “Has Lyra discovered Bayley?”
