In news that isn’t too surprising, Mauro Ranallo confirmed to Newsweek, that he indeed gone from WWE.
“WWE and I have mutually agreed to part ways. It has nothing to do with JBL.”
Newsweek spoke with WWE and they confirmed Ranallo’s exit from the company and stated he will remain under contract until August 12, 2017.
While the news of Ranallo’s departure is not at all surprising, the last line in his statement is. Is that the truth or is it part of a reported settlement between both parties?
Ranallo joined the company in 2016, and became the voice of Smackdown. Rumors started to circulate shortly after Ranallo’s sudden absence from Smackdown Live broadcasts about his mental health issues, which he has been extremely vocal about on social media.
The mill continued to turn shortly after an episode of WWE Network’s Bring It To The Table where John Bradshaw Layfield had some negative comments about Mauro’s presence on Twitter. Mauro was apparently a victim of some backstage bullying by JBL & multiple reports started to surface of past instances of bullying.
Additionally, Newsweek released a statement from JBL on Ranallo:
“Admittedly, I took part in locker room pranks that existed within the industry years ago. WWE addressed my behavior and I responded accordingly, yet my past is being brought up because of recent unfounded rumors. I apologize if anything I said playing ‘the bad guy’ on a TV show was misconstrued.”
Last week, Dave Meltzer reported that WWE was trying to come up with a settlement with Ranallo to keep him from speaking publicly about any circumstances about his departure from WWE. Today’s Newsweek story seems to confirm that.
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