What’s the story?
While former WWE Champion and current SmackDown LIVE! commentator John “Bradshaw” Layfield has had some pretty nasty stories float around about his bullying behaviour in the past, but the recent accusations levied upon him have been more high profile.
The accusations have gained so much traction that other mainstream news sources have started reporting upon it in the last few days.
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WWE SmackDown LIVE lead announcer Mauro Ranallo has been absent from commentary duties for the past few weeks or so.
Diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder at an early age, Ranallo seems to have been recovering from an onset of depression – an onset that some are saying may have been brought on by the bullying behaviour inflicted by his SmackDown co-worker Layfield.
These reports are only exacerbated by stories written in former WWE ring announcer Justin Roberts’s book, Best Seat in the House: Your Backstage Pass through My WWE Journey, which documents his alleged mistreatment by Layfield and his cohorts.
Wrestling Observer Newsletter editor Dave Meltzer has written about these incidents and, since then, has claimed that 15 other former and current WWE employees have contacted him regarding similar treatment by Layfield.
The heart of the matter
WWE previously had to deal with a similar controversy when former WWE head trainer Bill DeMott was accused of abusive behaviour by some of his trainees. While that lead to DeMott eventually leaving the company, few – if any – outlets outside of wrestling-based publication and websites touched on it.
This instance, however, is different. In the past few days, a number of sports and news sources have picked up on the story. Forbes wrote a story on how these reports conflict with WWE’s “Be A Star” anti-bullying campaign.
Also read: 5 wrestlers that were bullied by JBL
Deadspin recently spoke to former WWE star John Morrison (now known as Johnny Mundo), who claimed that JBL asked him to steal Roberts’s passport, which the ring announcer claimed happened.
Even an NBC affiliate in Pennsylvania has picked up on the story.
What’s next?
At this point, it’s just a matter of how WWE wants to handle this. So far, they haven’t made any public comment on the situation, although that could change as more stories in the mainstream media come forward.
Author’s take
Chances are, WWE will talk JBL into “resigning” from the WWE, with him making a public statement as to how he doesn’t want the rumours to “distract” from the show or something like that.
Whether that happens or not, I think it’s safe to say that we won’t see Ranallo on WWE TV again, which is a shame.
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