Report: Backstage Drama Caused SmackDown Announcer’s Leave

Mauro Ranallo, the voice of SmackDown Live, has now been absent from the announce desk for three straight weeks, and there’s no word on whether he’ll be present for the events of WrestleMania week. His few social media posts have been vague but positive, but it seems there’s much more to the story.

https://twitter.com/mauroranallo/status/847187197002268672

Mauro battles with depression, and the mental illness has caused him to miss previous events prior to his tenure with WWE. But this is the longest such absence yet. According to this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscription required), it could be due to an on-screen rivalry becoming too real.

JBL frequently makes fun of Mauro on-air for his activity on social media, and while it seems in good fun on TV, word is that Layfield was legitimately mad. This came to a head when Mauro retweeted the results of the Wrestling Observer Announcer of the Year award, which he won.

The unspoken rule in wrestling is that you don’t acknowledge awards and honors from outside your promotion, and this apparently set JBL off. Layfield commented on the incident on Bring it to the Table, talking down Ranallo’s pop-culture references and announce style in the process. It seemed to be in-character, but the comments were mean-spirited in a way that reflected real-life tensions, and evidently played a key part in Mauro’s relapse.

Though mental health issues are very serious, and nothing to make light of, it puts WWE in a very awkward position. If Mauro’s unable to execute his duties it’s a big problem for the company, but not bringing him back at this point would be rewarding what could be seen as bullying by JBL. Though the company has a poor reputation for this kind of abuse backstage, a public reminder would certainly hurt the credibility of things like the Be a Star campaign.