Mauro Ranallo Confirms He Is Finished With WWE

Mauro Ranallo has officially confirmed via a recent interview with Newsweek.com that he is parting ways with WWE.

In an email statement to the website, Ranallo denied reports that his departure had anything to do with alleged bullying from fellow SmackDown LIVE color commentator John "Bradshaw" Layfield, who lately has been accused by both friends of Ranallo and by multiple wrestling-related media outlets of being "openly hostile" towards Ranallo:

"WWE and I have mutually agreed to part ways. It has nothing to do with JBL."

A spokesman with WWE has also confirmed that Ranallo has parted ways with the company and that he will still remain under contract with WWE until August 12th.

Ranallo has been absent from WWE ever since the March 7th edition of SmackDown LIVE. It wasn't until March 29th when Ranallo posted a since-deleted message on his official Twitter page that he was battling "ill health," which The Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer stated in the April 3rd edition of his Wrestling Observer Newsletter may have, in part, been triggered by backstage issues with JBL, who has since come under fire by many former employees, including ex-WWE ring announcer Justin Roberts, for alleged hazing.

On the March 13th edition of the WWE Network-exclusive "Bring It to the Table" show, JBL openly issued scutiny towards Ranallo regarding his acknowledgement of the results of a fan poll, which named Ranallo 2016's announcer of the year. The following night, Ranallo was absent from SmackDown LIVE, which led to speculation that JBL's remarks were the reason for his absence.

JBL's alleged involvement in the situation later led to fans calling for his firing from WWE, and most recently, fans attending the April 11th edition of SmackDown LIVE in Boston, Massachusetts began a "Fire Bradshaw" chant.

JBL himself has also issued a statement regarding the situation:

"Admittedly, I took part in locker room pranks that existed within the industry years ago. WWE addressed my behavior and I responded accordingly, yet my past is being brought up because of recent unfounded rumors. I apologize if anything I said playing ‘the bad guy’ on a TV show was misconstrued."

WWE has also issued their own statement:

"As part of our commitment to creating an inclusive environment, in April 2011, WWE launched our anti-bullying campaign, Be a STAR, which encourages young people to treat each other with tolerance and respect. As a publicly traded company, that mantra carries forward in our corporate culture. As such, we fully investigate any allegations of inappropriate behavior including the recent alleged situation with John Layfield (aka JBL), despite no formal complaint having been submitted."

Ranallo has since made appearances at the announce booth to call action for the Rizin Fighting Federation, a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion, for an event that they held back on April 16th. He has also since posted to his official Twitter page that he will also again call the action for a wrestling event one day.