What’s the story?
As the days go by, more and more former WWE talents have commented on JBL’s backstage behaviour. This time, former WWE and NXT announcer Rich Brennan spoke up on an episode of the Under The Mat Radio podcast on SmackDown LIVE’s as well as other subjects.
Background...
In case you’ve either been living under a rock, are Amish, or aren’t a wrestling fan (why are you reading this, then?), you’ve probably gotten wind of the situation between John “Bradshaw” Layfield and (technically still lead) Smackdown Live! announcer Mauro Ranallo.
The TLDR version is this: Ranallo is best known for two things: his awesome announcing – both in WWE and MMA – and his condition of bipolar disorder, which he has worked tirelessly as an advocate for others with the condition in order to dimish the stigma against.
Allegedly due to Ranallo publically addressing his win for “Best Announcer” in the annual Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards, JBL has apparently been giving Ranallo a hard time, which set Ranallo off with a bout of depression, keeping him off TV for weeks and led to him missing WrestleMania.
The heart of the matter
During the interview with Under The Mat, Brennan talked about what it was like to work with JBL. One enlightening comment was...
JBL was difficult to work with as a broadcast partner. [There's] nothing you can do about it because that's Vince's (McMahon) guy... He basically violates all the rules when it comes to broadcast announcers in how we are trained to be announcers because he can. (emphasis ours)
Brennan mentioned that a lot of what JBL said on air and how he acted was because it was “part of his heel persona”, but that if Layfield didn’t “like you or respect you”, then that heel persona would be “dialled up a bit.”
He also made sure to reiterate that JBL never bullied him ("backstage he was OK to me...") and that while he never saw JBL bully Ranallo, he could totally picture it happening.
Also read: WWE trying to come to a settlement with Mauro Ranallo
What’s next?
So far, it doesn’t look like much, if anything, is going to happen to JBL in regards to his position in the company. If JBL is still with the company, don’t expect Ranallo to have much to do there.
Author’s take
Personally, I’d like to see Michael Cole retire to a backstage role (something he’s been talking about wanting to do anyway), have Ranallo on Raw (and as far away from JBL as possible) to replace him, and keep the commentary teams where they are now.
That’s all contingent on if WWE can come to an agreement with Ranallo – or if they offer him a bunch of money and a release in exchange for an agreement to not talk about the whole thing. To quote Bad Religion, “sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction.”
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