Gorilla Position – Episode 52
Hosts: James Delow and Rob Leigh
Topics: Injuries List, Raw Recaps, Wrestling Talk
Date: January 13, 2016
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
Recap By Tania Leong
Top News Items
– Raw Recaps: James and Rod noted that a lot has happened on the last few episodes of Raw most notably Roman Reigns winning the WHC. Vince McMahon’s performance and storyline has been hit and miss, this could the case because it seems like McMahon is making it up as he goes. Both are really enjoying the Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens feud.
– Injury List: Currently, WWE has a very long list of injured wrestlers with some very prominent names like John Cena and Daniel Bryan.
– WrestleMania speculation: With the long injury list, James and Rob talked about possible matches at this year’s Wrestlemania.
Topics Discussed (with time stamps)
Introduction by James Delow – 00.00
James welcomed in the New Year and the first episode of 2016.
Although it is a shame that John Cena is injured and will probably miss Wrestlemania, James thinks that this is a good opportunity for the WWE to promote young talent and can be a ‘game changer.’
As there is a lot of news to go talk about, James postponed the intended interview until next and this episode will be a proper wrestling show.
Raw Recaps – 05.57
James and Rob recapped Raw episodes from the past few weeks. James noted that the Roman Reigns vs. Vince McMahon feud is very similar to that with Steve Austin ‘circa 1997.’ However, this storyline has proven to be popular as the views on YouTube is into the millions. There has been many misses such as Vince McMahon being arrested and him missing the cues when he was guest referee. James questioned where does Reigns goes after this feud is over and thinks this would have the ideal time to promote another talent ‘especially in a time where the WWE is having trouble getting people over.’
They talked about the possibility that there may be a Triple H vs. Vince McMahon feud for control of the company. They feel that WWE needs stars and marquee matches at WrestleMania.
Both are really enjoying the Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose feud, and the use the Neville to perpetuate this storyline. They think that WWE needs to make Owens a big enough star especially with all the injuries and a match with either the Undertaker or Brock Lesnar ‘is not out of the realm of possibility.’
Although they have a great deal of respect for Chris Jericho, his yearly returns is not doing him many favours and the ‘crowd pops are getting less and less with each return.’
Both were complementary of Mauro Ranallo as the new announcer on Smackdown even though there weren’t many changes to the show itself since moving to USA Network.
Rob speculated when WWE renegotiates their contract with USA, there might only be one televised show and use this show to heavily promote the Network.
On to this week’s Raw, James thought it was strange that Sheamus made no effort to protect himself from the ringpost during his match with Ambrose. They are really looking forward to the inevitable singles match between Ambrose and Owens.
There is a feeling that McMahon ‘is making [things] up on the fly’ and it was evident during the last few weeks.
James enjoyed Xavier Woods’s reaction when Jericho broke his trombone.
The announcement of Sting being inducted into the HOF was not surprising but very welcomed. The Fabulous Freebirds are a big chance of being inducted as well, not too sure about The Undertaker, though.
The Social Outcasts ‘is a very odd thing.’ The Wyatts look revitalised after winning their feud with the ECW Originals.
Owens looked very happy to be in the ring with Lesnar. When James interviewed Owens last year, he mentioned that his dream match is with Lesnar at WrestleMania.
They talked about Breaking Ground with Rob saying that the entire show is ‘a work’ and the call-up of Tyler Breeze is a work as well and ‘has left him stranded.’
Rumoured signings – 63.26
Rob called the rumour signings from NJPW as ‘the biggest talent raid since 1988.’ WWE has yet to officially sign A.J. Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Doc Gallows, and Karl Anderson as they are still under contracts with NJPW until the end of January. There have been rumours that WWE has applied for the trademark for ‘Bullet Club.’ Neither thinks that these four will debut at Royal Rumble.
Injury List – 78.13
Rob ran through the very long list of injuries in the WWE and noted that there are some very big names on the list, especially John Cena who will miss his first Wrestlemania since joining WWE. They also noted that a shoulder injury is most common. Rob said that he would be keeping an eye on the how WWE will report the ticket sales for WrestleMania 32, as they may not reach full capacity of the stadium.
WrestleMania 32 speculation – 84.40
They speculated on possible matches at this year’s Wrestlemania. Rob said that WWE needs to make more stars that would bring the casual fans to the event, for example Owens is known by the ardent fans but not unnecessarily those who don’t follow the product on a weekly basis.
NXT Takeover: London talk – 88.40
Although they enjoyed the show itself, they felt that something was lacking from the atmosphere because there was no British stars apart from Finn Balor, who is Irish. Rob wants a copy of the Takeover poster and asked listeners to get in contact with him if they have one.
Competition – 101.06
This week’s competition is to win a copy of 2015 Hell in a Cell on blu-ray. To win, retweet the cover art on James’s Twitter account. Entrants must be over 18 years old and live in the UK. Closing date is midnight on Tuesday, 19 January 2016 (GMT).
Score & Review
8 out 10: Overall, this was a very good episode. James and Rob were very efficient at summarising three weeks worth of Raw without going into unnecessary detail and focused on the major stories to come out of these episodes.
I agree that the feud between Ambrose and Owens is one to look forward to. It is probably most compelling in the WWE at the moment, mainly due to the performance and natural charisma of Ambrose and Owens, but also because the WHC storyline has been hit and miss. Reigns and McMahon hasn’t been great week-to-week and often the storyline seems too convoluted.
Unfortunately, I agree that Tyler Breeze’s call-up to the main roster was in part a story arc for Breaking Ground, so the finale could end on a happy note but Breeze has since been defined as a mid-carder.
I agree that it would be interesting to see the final matches for this year’s WrestleMania especially with those out with injury and to see who will be promoted to the main event matches and who will debut.
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