Mauro Ranallo says WWE travel schedule “destroyed me”
WWE NXT commentator Mauro Ranallo appeared on “The MMA Hour” with Ariel Helwani this week and discussed the breakdown he suffered while part of the Smackdown commentary team. Ranallo cited the heavy travel schedule as being a big factor.
Excerpt courtesy of Pro Wrestling Sheet:
“I was on the road every week. You add MMA and boxing and kickboxing to it. The road travel destroyed me. So, rumors and all this other stuff, what happened, honestly – and Ariel, you know how honest I’ve been in this thing – I had a breakdown in the Chicago O’Hare airport on my way to Pittsburgh to do SmackDown Live. And again, Frank Shamrock, God bless him, Bas Rutten, man. Guys who fought each other are my biggest supporters. But, 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. As much as there’s two sides to every story, the actual truth from me was my mental health wasn’t going to allow me to maintain that schedule much longer.”
This time last year, reports surfaced claiming JBL was one of the big factors involving Ranallo’s sudden departure from commentary. Ranallo told Newsweek last April that he mutually agreed to part ways with the company and that it had “nothing to do with JBL.”
Ranallo would go on to sign a new deal with WWE last June to become part of the NXT commentary team going forward, calling TV tapings and NXT TakeOver live events.
The new Showtime documentary about Ranallo’s very public battle with mental illness will premiere this Friday (May 25) on the network.
You can watch Ranallo’s appearance on The MMA Hour below.
What happened after Smackdown Live
After Smackdown Live and the conclusion of the 205 Live tapings in Worcester, Smackdown GM Paige booked a match between WWE Champion AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura.
According to a live report sent to PWInsider.com, the match never officially got underway as Styles and Nakamura began brawling in the aisle. The Bar (Sheamus and Cesaro) then ran out out and both Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson ran out to make the save.