News broke back in August that NXT’s play-by-play commentator Mauro Ranallo was leaving the company once again. The boxing and MMA broadcaster originally signed with WWE back 2015 to serve on the SmackDown brand but briefly departed in 2017 due to personal reasons. He then returned as the play-by-play man for WWE’s Black and Gold Brand, working alongside the likes of Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness and Beth Phoenix.
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Ranallo gave a new interview with POST Wrestling‘s John Pollock this week, going into more detail about why he chose to step away.
“WWE is one of the most mentally grueling places — and that’s not necessarily a criticism by any means — there’s a reason Vince McMahon has built a multi-billion dollar empire,” Ranallo said (h/t Fightful) “Is it perfect? Not by any means, but neither am I. I chose to go to WWE and it was a dream come true. I wanted to work with WWE because I thought it would be an affirmation of my achievements as a broadcaster, but because of the connection I had with pro wrestling. I thought Jerry Lawler and Byron Saxton and I had instant chemistry, but they made the changes they felt they had to make. I’ve proven I can work with almost anyone as a broadcaster, but there were many times I was like, ‘what is going on here?’ Four-man booth, an eight-man booth. I get it, but that’s not what I want as a commentator.
“I get the stressful situations and the changes on the fly and the system, but for my mental health, even moving to NXT — when we were live, it was the best experience I could ask for, and that’s a testament to what Triple H and everyone in NXT has done,” he continued. “I just felt, for my own mental health, even doing the show from home, it was to the point where I would have a panic attack in the morning of the recordings in the last few months. All respect, I didn’t like what was happening and who was involved. All respect to all announcers, I believe in chemistry. Maybe I was the problem.”
Ranallo said he’s still very thankful of his time with WWE. Following Ranallo’s departure, NXT has set up a new commentary team comprised of Vic Joseph, Wade Barrett and Beth Phoenix.
