Gorilla Position – Episode 47
Hosts: James Delow and Rob Leigh
Guests: Dudley Boyz (Part II)
Release Date: November 25, 2015
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
Recap By Tania Leong
Main Topics
– Raw Recap
– Survivor Series Recap
– WWE World Title picture
Top News Items
– Interview with the Dudley Boyz (Part II): They talked about The Rock and WrestleMania 32 in Dallas, Texas. Then went on to talk about tag teams being main-eventers, like Edge and Christian were, especially with so many people out injured at the moment.
– Survivor Series Recap: James and Rob found it curious that neither of the participants in traditional 5-on-5 matches were not announced before the PPV. Overall, both seem pretty underwhelmed by the show and said that the results were predictable.
– Raw Recap: James and Rob mentioned that the first segment of the night showed that Sheamus being the World champion was an afterthought, the focus was on Roman Reigns and Triple H. They noted that the Paige vs. Charlotte re-match should have been on TLC instead.
– World Title Picture: James and Rob had a discussion about Sheamus being the new champion and Reigns being portrayed as the underdog like Daniel Bryan, despite that not being in-line with his character.
Topics Discussed (with time stamps)
Introduction by James Delow – 00.00
This week’s show includes part two of his interview with the Dudley Boyz. They will also be discussing Survivor Series – the celebration of 25 years of The Undertaker. James said that he liked the way in which Sheamus cashed-in the MITB briefcase but questioned whether MITB has run its course.
Interview with the Dudley Boyz (Part II) – 04.32
The interview continued with James talking about The Rock. The Dudleys said that they are genuine friends as they used to ride and trained together and they are very happy for the success The Rock has found. They think that it would be a good business decision to have The Rock at WrestleMania 32.
James asked whether they will cross paths with the Wyatt Family, Bubba Ray said that they haven’t forgotten that Luke Harper and Erick Rowan used the 3D a little while ago. James asked if the tag teams could be made main-eventers. The Dudleys said that when The Rock, Triple H, and Mick Foley were injured, Edge and Christian stepped up. They said the New Day has stepped up.
On James Storm being in NXT, Bubba Ray said that he brings experience and could help the younger talent immensely. With regards to Velvet Sky, Bubba Ray said that he would like to see her ‘get what she has earned’ by being in WWE.
James asked whether WWE has become too scripted. They agreed and if were up to them, nothing would be scripted. However, they are employed by the WWE and do what is asked of them. They said this is different from what they are used to, but they do best with what they are given.
Survivor Series Recap – 22.50
James said that he enjoyed the Kick-off show, and that Renee Young and Corey Graves are great. He was less complementary about Booker T. Both thought the traditional 5-on-5 match was decent, and expected a match between Goldust and Stardust soon. James also enjoyed Tyler Breeze in the social media lounge; he was very much in-character.
They discuss the babyface and heel dynamic, and how it is being presented. James thinks that the heels such as Kevin Owens and Alberto Del Rio aren’t being presented as ‘dastardly heels’ that you have to boo whereas faces like Roman Reigns aren’t being cheered, as they should be.
Both enjoyed the two semi-final matches though the results were predictable. They thought that Owens is ‘very fluid’ in his matches, which is a result of him working in different promotions.
They found it curious that the traditional Survivor Series matches were not announced beforehand. They criticized the commentary, calling it ridiculous at times.
They said that ‘it was very telling’ that the comment about Reid Flair was taken out in the Charlotte and Paige video package. James felt that the match needed a non-finish to show more aggression.
James thinks that Dolph Ziggler is losing his character and Tyler Breeze is quite similar. Rob thinks that this feud happened too quickly and doesn’t know where Breeze goes after this.
Both were glad that there were no surprises in the Undertaker/Kane and Wyatt Family match. They really liked Undertaker’s entrance even though the match itself was uneventful. Rob questioned the Undertaker’s role and James thinks that he should be putting over new talent such as the Wyatt Family.
The main event match was good but an ‘epic storyline’ was missing, and it was too short. Rob thinks the ending and length of the match did Reigns and Dean Ambrose a disservice. James said that ‘there was no main even feel to the match.’
Rob didn’t like Reigns crying at the end because it didn’t fit his character, and WWE is booking him like Daniel Bryan. They discussed the merit of Sheamus cashing in the MITB briefcase.
Raw Recap – 70.00
It is obvious from the Raw that Sheamus was an afterthought and the opening segment was about Triple H and Reigns.
Reigns is being booked as the underdog just like Bryan but that doesn’t make sense because he should have a vigilante character.
James noted that there are many European and British wrestlers in more prominent roles, and thinks that they could start a faction.
The Paige vs. Charlotte re-match should have been on TLC instead, but Rob was very disinterested overall.
They discuss the role of the Dudley Boyz and whether they will win another tag team championship, as well as the New Day segment.
Other wrestling news and chatter – 81.05
Cesaro is injured and will be out for 4 to 6 months. He is among a very long list of currently injured wrestlers.
The NXT Takeover: London card is set with Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe as the main event.
Mexican wrestler, La Sombra has officially with NXT.
Luke Harper was on a guest on Talk is Jericho this week and it was an entertaining episode.
When asked, Triple H said that there may be a chance of Hulk Hogan returning to the WWE but needs to rehabilitate his public profile first.
John Cena recently did an interview with Zap2It and said that there is a misconception about him and his position in the company. Now that he is away, he is looking at who will step up.
On Breaking Ground, both had different views of the latest episode. James found it the least engaging whereas Rob found it to be the most focused one.
They watched the new Owen Hart DVD. It served as a timely reminder how good of a technical wrestler he was and made them realise how much they miss him.
Competition – 103.40
This week’s competition is to win a copy of Owen Hart: Hart of Gold. To win, retweet the special dvd cover art on James’s Twitter account. Entrants must be over 18 years old and live in the U.K. Closing date is midnight on Tuesday, 1st December (GMT).
Next week’s podcast guest will be Neville.
Score & Review
7 out 10: Overall, this was a good episode. I feel as though neither found the PPV and Raw to be particularly good, which is not surprising considering the low quality of both shows.
The second part of the interview with the Dudleys offered some interesting tidbits especially them riding with The Rock. It seems as though a program with the Wyatt Family was in place a few months ago before Erik Rowan got injured but it is evident from Raw that this program is happening. However, I felt that too much talk was about Velvet Sky, although understandable, she has yet to sign with the WWE. I agree that WWE is too scripted nowadays and is a hindrance to the talent.
I agree that the tournament matches were quite good even though the results were predictable. The main event was a waste especially it being the first time we were seeing Ambrose and Reigns in a singles match. I would have preferred if the participants of the two traditional 5-on-5 matches were announced before the PPV, by not doing so, the PPV felt disorganised.
Rob is correct in saying that Reigns is not Bryan, so he shouldn’t be booked as such. WWE is doing Reigns a disservice by making him into something he is not, and because this angle worked with Bryan doesn’t mean that it would work with Reigns.
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