2017 Top 20 Moments #18 Mauro Ranallo Abruptly Leaves WWE – JBL Blamed

As we wind down 2017, we will be looking back at the 20 best (and worst) moments of the year in the wrestling world. 

20. Scott Steiner’s epic press conference 

19. Sexy Star tries to break Rosemary’s arm for real.

Back in April, Smackdown commentator Mauro Ranallo abruptly left the company due to bullying at the hands of noted bully JBL. As it turns out, Mauro eventually returned to NXT and JBL left WWE altogether. So, the good guys won in the end.

Here’s our story from April. 

A lot of signs are pointing to Smackdown Live commentator Mauro Ranallo being done with WWE. Ranallo has been off the air since missing an episode of Smackdown Live in March due to a snow storm causing travel issues.

The reason for his continued absence from the show has not been explained by either him or WWE, but it is believed to be caused by his life-long battle with bipolar depression. As for what caused him to sink into the spell, Dave Meltzer and others have pointed to a segment from the WWE Network show Bring It To The Table where JBL went on an extended rant about how often Ranallo is on Twitter.

Also adding fuel to this fire is former WWE ring announcer Justin Robert’s new book in which he details several instances of JBL being a bully to others backstage. JBL has not directly commented on the matters other than to wish Mauro well, but there are dozens of stories by former WWE employees of Layfield terrorizing underlings or new wrestlers.

Yesterday Ranallo posted this cryptic tweet that many feel is a direct reference to accusations of JBL’s bullying resurfacing.

It appears that this story won’t be blowing over anytime soon. The stories of JBL’s bullying are finally getting at least some mainstream attention and it could begin to reflect badly onto WWE. Similar to the situation with former NXT trainer Bill DeMott, these accusations may cost Layfield his job.

Should JBL be fired for his backstage bullying? Is Ranallo done for good? Share your thoughts.