-

Mauro Ranallo blames weekly travel as the reason he had to quit Smackdown in 2017

During an interview with Ariel Helwani for The MMA Hour, NXT commentator Mauro Ranallo joined in the studio to discuss a variety of subjects including his departure from the Smackdown commentary team last year.

Ranallo pretty much quit the WWE in March just a month before WrestleMania. Rumors starting popping up that Ranallo had enough of the verbal abuse from John “Bradshaw” Layfield and the bullying scandal was a PR nightmare for the company.

A month later in April, both Ranallo and WWE confirmed that the two parties have mutually agreed to go separate ways but Ranallo refused to blame JBL and the bullying that goes on behind the scenes.

Talking with Helwani, Ranallo blamed his departure on the weekly travel which he said destroyed him mentally. “I had a breakdown in the Chicago O’Hare airport on my way to Pittsburgh to do SmackDown Live,” Ranallo said. “I had to phone them and I said ‘I’m done. I cannot do this anymore. It’s going to kill me.’ And I thought I was done with the entire company.”

He eventually returned in late June as the new NXT lead commentator and has been part of NXT ever since. Ranallo, who suffers from bipolar disorder, also called the Mayweather vs McGregor boxing match last year for Showtime.

Showtime will be premiering a documentary chronicling his lifelong battle with mental illness on Friday, May 25 at 9PM EST to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Month.


Discover more from Wrestling-Online.com

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Colin Vassallo
Colin Vassallohttps://www.wrestling-online.com
Colin Vassallo has been editor of Wrestling-Online since 1996. He is born and raised in Malta, follows professional wrestling and MMA, loves to travel, and is a big Apple fan!

Stories you might also likeRELATED
Recommended to you

LATEST NEWS

Fright Night Dynamite live tonight on TBS

AEW will present a special edition of Dynamite tonight titled Fright Night on the eve of Halloween live on...

Kenny Omega to appear at NJPW’s Power Struggle event in Japan

Former AEW World champion Kenny Omega will be appearing at the New Japan Pro-Wrestling Power Struggle event on November...

Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez leave a bloody Rhea Ripley in NXT parking lot

Rhea Ripley, Liv Morgan, and Raquel Rodriguez all showed up on NXT last night, and unfortunately for Ripley, it...

Discover more from Wrestling-Online.com

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading