Seth Rollins has given the most detailed explanation yet of the thinking behind The Vision, the faction he formed coming out of WrestleMania 41, and his account touches on insecurity, distrust, and a calculated but flawed decision involving Paul Heyman.
Speaking on WWE Countdown, Rollins laid out the landscape he was navigating as his list of enemies grew and the pressure to protect his position mounted.
“Maybe a little bit of insecurity? I looked at the landscape and I was kind of starting to pile up enemies. CM Punk, Roman Reigns, when you have Roman Reigns you have the entire Bloodline. There was a lot of people who were sort of eyeballing what I was doing and what I was saying, they didn’t like it, so I felt like at that stage there were a lot of visions for what the future of the company could or would or should look like.”
He framed the formation of The Vision as a response to that environment, one driven by a genuine belief that he was better suited to lead WWE’s future than either of the men he was feuding with.
“To be honest with you, I just don’t trust Roman Reigns. I certainly don’t trust CM Punk, I don’t trust either of them to be the figureheads or the leaders, so I felt I was the best person suited for that job. I felt like I was in a unique position where I had to take care of those guys, but I needed to insulate myself on the backside of that. Also, I wanted to not just do this for me, but to pass it on to the next generation, and for me Bron Breakker was the perfect fit for that.”
The Heyman element of The Vision is where Rollins was most candid, describing the decision to bring the veteran manager into his circle as something he now views as an error in judgment.
“The Paul Heyman aspect of it is a little bit more interesting. That was a mistake on my behalf. Paul’s been a thorn in my side for over a decade, when he was the advocate for Brock Lesnar, when he was the Wise Man for Roman Reigns, this is a guy who has always latched onto people that would give him power, and at some point it became necessary for me to have him on my side so that I didn’t have to deal with him on the other side. There’s always been a mutual respect between me and Paul, but we’ve never stood on the same side of the sand. So to have him on my side, I felt like I could control it a little bit better, I could handle him if I had him on my side, and if our visions were aligned, it would be less for me to have to deal with.”
Backlash takes place Saturday, May 9 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, streaming live on the ESPN app.