Report: WWE blasted with bullying accusations
The story about JBL causing Mauro Ranallo to leave WWE is being covered by many media outlets.
World Wrestling Entertainment, the largest pro wrestling company in the U.S., has been dogged by accusations of bullying over the last week after the sudden departure of a popular television announcer and a book published by a former ring announcer.
Mauro Ranallo, who announced ice hockey, mixed-martial arts and boxing before being hired by WWE in 2015, was missing from a broadcast of WWE’s “Smackdown Live” on USA Network several weeks ago. Ranallo’s broadcast partner, John Layfield, blasted Ranallo’s absence on Twitter, saying weather wasn’t an excuse because the “rest of the crew made it” to the arena. He later deleted the tweets. Layfield made negative mention of Ranallo during the broadcast.
Ranallo, who in the past suffered from bipolar disorder, was dealing with depression according to an exclusive report from Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer, who broke the story in his weekly newsletter. Layfield also blasted Ranallo during a non-character interview segment on the company’s streaming service, WWE Network.
Ranallo’s situation gathered more attention after the recent release of a book by former WWE ring announcer Justin Roberts called “Best Seat in the House.”
Roberts wrote about being bullied constantly by Layfield, including him asking two wrestlers to steal his passport while WWE was on an overseas tour. He was later teased about the incident by WWE owner Vince McMahon after a meeting.
After Layfield denied the allegation on Twitter and referred to Roberts as an “idiot,” former WWE wrestler John Hennigan told the website Deadspin the incident happened.
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