What’s the story?
According to a report from CageSideSeats, the WWE have confirmed to them in an email that estranged SmackDown LIVE commentator Mauro Ranallo, who has been absent from SmackDown LIVE tapings since the past few weeks owing to a bout with what has allegedly been a case of depression, is still under a WWE contract.
The email, however, gave little indication to Ranallo’s status with the WWE besides the duration of the contract itself. Ranallo has also Tweeted an ominous Buddha quote about how the truth can’t be hidden, in light of recent developments.
In case you didn’t know...
Mauro Ranallo, who is known as the “Voice of SmackDown LIVE”, has been missing from SmackDown tapings since 14th March 2017. Mauro’s absence was initially attributed to him being stuck in a snowstorm on his way to the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
While the absence was initially deemed as a one-off incident, wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer had pointed out that there was more to it than there was being let on. It was later revealed by Meltzer and subsequently confirmed by Ranallo’s peers that the cause of Ranallo’s absence was indeed him having a serious episode of depression.
One of Ranallo’s peers, his co-host on the Ranallo and Rutten podcast and former UFC Heavyweight Champion Bas Rutten, had attributed Ranallo’s co-commentator John Bradshaw Layfield (JBL) being an “A-hole” and “jealous”, for the triggering of Ranallo’s condition.
Ranallo was clinically diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of 19 and has been very vocal on spreading awareness about the condition. Previously, as a commentator for the Women's exclusive MMA promotion Invicta FC, Ranallo had once missed out on his commentating duties for similar reasons as well.
The event, Invicta FC 4, was held on 5th January 2013 and featured the likes of current UFC fighters Raquel Pennington, Amanda Nunes and Paige VanZant. Ranallo was replaced by Bas Rutten on commentary duties for the evening.
The heart of the matter
After all the drama yesterday with the WWE removing Mauro Ranallo from their Social Media accounts’ list and Ranallo deleting all references and tweets (except one) about the WWE from his Twitter account, combat sports news website Cagesideseats reached out to the WWE for comment about Ranallo’s status with the company.
Here’s what the WWE had to say in their emailed response:
Mauro Ranallo remains under contract with WWE until August 12, 2017.
WWE’s flagship pay per view SummerSlam is supposed to take place on the 20th of August, 2017 and it appears that Ranallo’s contract officially runs out just a week prior to that. Whether he’ll be used on-air until then or not, remains to be seen.
As of this writing, Ranallo is still listed as an active WWE Superstar on WWE’s official website.
Meanwhile, Ranallo, likely responding in light of the recent revelations made by Dave Meltzer about repeated incidents of bullying by JBL amidst other developments, Tweeted out the following ominous quote by Buddha:
Besides this, Ranallo, having not used Twitter during the first two weeks of his absence from commentary duties, appears to have now returned to the social media platform completely.
He has been retweeting and responding to messages of support from fans and friends and has also confirmed his next event as a commentator.
Tom Phillips, Ranallo’s on-air co-commentator appears to have replaced him on play-by-play duties for SmackDown LIVE for the time being, while rumours of veteran WWE announcer Jim Ross possibly assuming commentating duties on SmackDown LIVE have been gathering some steam as well.
What’s next?
Mauro Ranallo has confirmed that his podcast with Bas Rutten titled “Rutten and Ranallo” will be making a return in the coming week. The podcast features the duo talking about the worlds of Mixed Martial arts and professional wrestling and is available on iTunes.
Ranallo has also confirmed that he will be commentating on the Welterweight Boxing match between Shawn Porter vs. Andre Berto, although it’s unclear whether he’ll also be calling the other matches on the card.
The event is scheduled to take place on April 22nd, 2017 at the Barclays Center in New York and Ranallo’s tweet confirming his presence at the same can be found below.
With Ranallo suffixing his message with the declaration that he would like to call an MMA event “soon”, speculations have been running amok about him possibly going over to the UFC as the recently released play-by-play commentator Mike Goldberg’s replacement, although the WWE contract may put a spanner in the works there.
Author’s take
Mauro Ranallo, like countless others, has been battling bipolar disorder and depression.
The gifted announcer has been facing the conditions for his entire adult life and his current saga with the WWE has shed even more light on the constant struggle and the severity of it that comes with having mental diseases.
Oft ignored and misrepresented in the mainstream, mental illness is no laughing matter and should be taken as seriously as any other ailment.
WWE, as a company, have been doing a lot of good work on the physical health and wellbeing of their Superstars and it’s very evident, as seen with them paying for Superstars’ rehabilitation programs, medical insurance etc. and with them providing a high level of round-the-clock medical services for everyone on their payroll.
Also read: 5 of JBL’s alleged bullying incidents
Perhaps it is time, that the company also concentrates on the mental health aspect of things. With how common mental illnesses are in this day and age, Ranallo cannot possibly be the only one going through such issues.
As far as Ranallo’s future is concerned, he may or may not return to the WWE and it remains to be seen where he’ll go from here. However, Ranallo is undoubtedly one of the very best (if not the best) at what he does and will have no shortage of opportunities in the combat sports world, were he to part ways with WWE.
We wish Ranallo all the best with his recovery and hope that things between WWE and him can be normalised once again.
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