WWE News: Top Talent Misses ‘SmackDown Live’ Again With No Real Explanation
Last week, there was a huge snowstorm that affected a lot of people as flights were canceled, roads were impossible to travel, and many places lost power. Those on the payroll for WWE made sure they found ways to make it to their events and be there, but there was one who said he couldn’t make it due to the snow. Mauro Ranallo missed last week’s episode of SmackDown Live and he was expected back this week, but at the start of the show, he wasn’t there.
On Tuesday night, the world was preparing for one of the final episodes of SmackDown Live before WrestleMania 33, and it was turning out to be a big night in a hurry. The Usos captured the SmackDown Tag Team Championships from American Alpha and AJ Styles accepted Shane McMahon’s challenge as recapped by the official website of WWE.
Unfortunately, the focus of a lot of people was elsewhere as the announce team consisted of just three men – David Otunga, John Bradshaw Layfield, and tom Phillips. Once again, Mauro Ranallo was absent and this time, there was no snow standing in his way.
As reported by Heavy, Tom Phillips let fans know at the start of SmackDown Live that Ranallo was missing again due to being sick. Nothing more was said about his absence, but it wouldn’t take long for social media to be all over this.
Most of them were rather disappointed that Ranallo was missing.
Seriously @WWE 2 weeks in a row!where is @mauroranallo #SmackDownLIVE is not the same without him! #wewantmauro
— Ekko (@Slang648) March 22, 2017
#SDLive has been awesome tonight! I’m still missing @mauroranallo at the play by play desk! #GetWellMauro
— Shawn Harvey (@shawnh95) March 22, 2017
As of halfway through SmackDown Live, the overly vocal Taz and Josh Mathews had not said anything about Ranallo’s absence. Last time, they said a lot regarding the play-by-play man missing the show and even JBL had something to say, but the former WWE Champion ended up deleting his tweet.
Someone else who has been noticeably silent on social media is Mauro Ranallo who was usually very active on his Twitter. Now, he hasn’t posted anything in about a week and his last tweet was actually a foreshadowing to his absence on the last SmackDown Live.
Maybe. Snow may stop that from happening. https://t.co/Smd7zAQ7i8
— Mauro Ranallo (@mauroranallo) March 14, 2017
Some have speculated that there are bigger issues between Ranallo and WWE that haven’t yet made it out for the public to know about. As reported by Sherdog a couple of years ago, Ranallo also suffers from bipolar disorder and some believe that may be the reason he has been missing for two weeks in a row.
ComicBook is reporting that there is some speculation that Ranallo’s time with WWE could prematurely be coming to an end, but there is nothing to support that at this time. All that is known at this time is that snow kept him away last week and this time, Ranallo is said to be sick.
He really has become one of the best play-by-play announcers in all of professional wrestling and SmackDown Live simply isn’t the same without him. It will be interesting to see if WWE makes any official comment on Ranallo’s absence or if he just comes back for the next episode.
When Mauro Ranallo was signed by WWE, there were those who questioned the move, but he has proven that he belongs. His voice and talent have given a big-fight feel to matches on SmackDown Live and he’s become one of the best play-by-play announcers in the business. Last week, he shouldn’t have missed the show but the snow could end up being a legitimate reason. Being absent for a second week in a row means that there is something much more to this whole story.
[Featured Image by WWE]
