WWE and Mauro Ranallo part ways
The relationship between legendary combat sports announcer Mauro Ranallo and WWE has frequently been a contentious one. Following a tweet from Wrestling Observer Radio's Dave Meltzer, the relationship has, once again, concluded.
Earlier tonight, Meltzer sent out the following Tweet:
It was followed not long after but this message from WWE's official Twitter account, confirming the split between the two parties:
Mauro Ranallo in WWE
Ranallo, who hade a name for himself in both the pro boxing and MMA worlds, was hired by WWE as an announcer for their SmackDown brand in 2015. He was the commentator for the much-hyped heavyweight boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and UFC star Connor McGregor in 2017. More on that in a moment.
Following an incident in 2017, in which his broadcast partner JBL criticized him harshly on another WWE program, Ranallo was conspicuously absent from his SmackDown announce duties. Mauro Ranallo, who has publically discussed his condition of Bipolar Disorder, has never outright confirmed this is why he missed so much time, and why we eventually left SmackDown.
Mauro Ranallo wouldn't be gone from WWE programming for long, as he would soon become the lead announcer for NXT on the WWE Network - and then on the USA Network following the brand's move there.
It's been speculated that Mauro Ranallo's involvement as part of the announce team for the aforementioned Mayweather/McGregor match encouraged WWE to reach out to the Canadian broadcaster and work out a deal to keep him in the company in some capacity. His enthusiasm for pro wrestling was a perfect fit for the kind of programming NXT was looking to produce.
Aside from his announce work, Mauro Ranallo is also an advocate for mental health awareness and advocacy. In 2018, Showtime produced and released a documentary on his life and work.