What’s the story?
WWE announcer Mauro Ranallo has been in the news for less than pleasant reasons as his continued absence from WWE TV leads to more and more allegations of a bullying culture in the promotion and the pressure being cranked up on John Bradshaw Layfield.
Ranallo himself has been worryingly quiet on social media as of late, but he returned to regular activity yesterday to interact with fans.
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Ranallo took a slight jab at JBL during the interactions, when one fan posted a video of JBL getting knocked out by Bart Gunn during the much-maligned Brawl for All tournament back in 1995.
In case you didn’t know...
It has been widely reported that Mauro Ranallo is unlikely to return to WWE TV. The voice of SmackDown LIVE tweeted out the results of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards, in which he won the ‘Announcer of the Year’ award for 2016. JBL didn’t take too kindly to this and subsequently ripped into Ranallo and the awards on an episode of WWE’s ‘Bring it to the Table’. Ranallo has been missing from WWE TV ever since.
Also read: Mauro Ranallo still under WWE contract, tweets about how the “truth” can’t be hidden
During Ranallo’s absence, numerous stories have made the news regarding JBL and the culture of bullying in WWE. Ranallo has been quiet on the subject, a couple of cryptic tweets aside, and JBL has subsequently taken to blocking anyone on Twitter who dares to bring the issue up.
The heart of the matter
Ranallo returned to his usual social media activity yesterday to interact with fans, and it wasn’t long before the subject of JBL came up. The user Best Wrestling Pops tweeted a video of Bradshaw getting knocked out by Bart Gunn back in 1995, along with a message saying that Mauro might enjoy it.
Ranallo quickly replied, stating that he enjoyed it back in 1995 and he enjoys it even more today. While the comment was a direct response to the accusations of bullying, it was still a clear statement in the direction of his supposed tormentor.
What’s next?
While WWE is seemingly in an awkward position here, the truth is that the company has never truly faced the supposed culture of bullying head on. Unless this story gets picked up by a major mainstream media outlet, it is unlikely that anything big will come of this.
Author’s take
It is going to take something major for WWE to change. Mauro Ranallo is arguably the most talented announcer on WWE’s books, and the fact that the company is willing to lose him as opposed to facing a virus-like culture head on is depressing, to say the least. Ranallo will go back to announcing New Japan, MMA and boxing, all of which will be better off with him involved. Those looking for JBL to get his comeuppance may have to make do with the memories of Bart Gunn and the Brawl for All.
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