What’s the story?
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there has been some preliminary dialogue about Mauro Ranallo returning to the company. However, it is not on a serious level, and it is far from a certainty at this time.
The background
Ranallo started as the lead announcer on Smackdown in 2015, and he instantly gave an air of credibility to the show. However, after Mauro won the Wrestling Observer Newsletter award for Best Announcer in 2016 – and mentioned it on his Twitter account – his broadcast partner, JBL, seemingly mocked him on the WWE Network show Bring It To The Table. Not long after that, Ranallo – who has had a long, public battle with Bipolar Disorder – stopped showing up on Smackdown. Eventually, Ranallo announced he was no longer affiliated with WWE and that his leaving the company “had nothing to do with JBL.”
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The heart of the story
As is the case with most former WWE personalities, the door isn’t slammed shut for the former Smackdown announcer to return. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the door is open for Ranallo to return, and there have even been talks with him to do just that. Not successful talks, but they’re trying. As far as to why Ranallo absolved JBL’s part in him leaving, it mostly boils down to the fact that Mauro loves wrestling, and he didn’t want to make it a bigger deal than it needed to be.
What’s next?
It’s doubtful we’ll see Ranallo announcing a WWE show anytime soon, but it’s heartening to see that the bridges between the announcer and the company haven’t been burned to the ground. For right now, Ranallo is in England to announce the IBF Championship fight between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko on the Showtime.cable network.
Author’s take
As much as I really, really like Mauro Ranallo, am I the only one who thinks Tom Phillips is doing a really good job filling in for him? I know Ranallo loves pro wrestling and I think it would be awesome if they were able to bring him back to announce some major events. I don’t think this is the last we’ll see if Ranallo and WWE working together.
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