WWE News: Mauro Ranallo and other announcers react to JBL leaving SmackDown's broadcast team

What's the story?

It's been less than 24 hours since we found out that former WWE Champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield would be stepping down from his position as a commentator on SmackDown Live, effective immediately.

Since then, a number of his colleagues on the WWE announce team have taken to Twitter to wish JBL well during this new stage of his career.

In case you missed it...

JBL himself took to the social media platform to make the announcement that he was leaving the show in order to focus on more philanthropic pursuits.

After much consideration, I will be stepping back my weekly role as Smackdown Announcer to dedicate more (cont) https://t.co/An7zuYRFmV

— John Layfield (@JCLayfield) September 1, 2017

BREAKING: @JCLayfield is stepping down as #SDLive announcer to focus on his role as a Beyond Sport Global Ambassador https://t.co/89YmMu11nG

— WWE (@WWE) September 2, 2017

He was careful to make it clear that he wasn't leaving the company, and would come back for special events - such as WrestleMania - and other random appearances.

As of this writing, a replacement for the SmackDown announce team has yet to be announced.

The heart of the matter

Upon the announcement, some of JBL's fellow announcers - like Ranallo's replacement on Smackdown Tom Phillips - shared their thanks and congratulations:

John, you'll be sorely missed on Tuesdays. Explore your passion to the fullest. Thank you for everything, @JCLayfield! https://t.co/tFkkhpzUBt

— Tom Phillips (@TomPhillipsWWE) September 2, 2017

This makes me proud & breaks my heart. Congrats @JCLayfield & mostly THANK YOU, for being a friend & all you've helped me with. https://t.co/i7LLMuUjyM

— Corey Graves (@WWEGraves) September 2, 2017

There was also this comment from JBL's former Smackdown announce partner and current voice of NXT, Mauro Ranallo:

FYI #WeAreNXT ??#ThatIsAll

— Mauro Ranallo (@mauroranallo) September 2, 2017

Yowza. Well played, you bi-polah rock'n'rollah. Well played.

What's next?

While we don't know who is going to take JBL's place on the announce team, there's one person we know won't be the aforementioned Ranallo.

When asked if he would be taking JBL's spot and returning to the blue brand, Ranallo answered with a succinct "nope."

As for who will be filling that third chair, I'm sure there will be some sort of announcement before Tuesday.

Author's take

I haven't been the biggest fan of JBL on commentary, but I really thought his recent work alongside Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton was pretty decent.

That being said, a shakeup in the commentary team is always exciting. Ooh, wait... shake-up... Shaaaaaake-up... Hmmmm? Oh, nothing. Just... thinking. Carry on.