Details Emerge on SmackDown Announcer’s Disappearance

Mauro Ranallo, lead announcer for SmackDown and a rapidly-rising fan favorite voice in WWE, has been missing from the commentary desk for two weeks now.

The first week coincided with the blizzard that struck the northeast United States, and his colleagues described that absence as being due to the weather conditions. However, that got Mauro put under no shortage of social media fire from wrestling announcers new and old.

This week, Mauro was still out, and the reason given was “illness.” But some are speculating that this malady is more mental than physical.

According to this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscription required), Mauro suffers from depression, which he has written about extensively throughout his career of calling fights. Two close friends have reported that he’s okay, but he’s been out of contact with many years-long associates.

Mauro last posted to Twitter on March 13th–the Monday before the first SmackDown episode he missed–and it’s been that long since most of his contacts have heard from him.

He once missed an Invicta event over a bout with depression prior to coming to WWE. There’s no word on how the company’s officials feel about Mauro’s absence, but JBL offered some public complaints that have since been deleted.

Mental illness is no joke, and we hope the best for Mauro’s recovery.