**The story involving Mauro Ranallo and the WWE was not ignored by the live audience in Boston on Tuesday night. When JBL was introduced there were clearly a lot of boos for him and later in the night there was a We Want Mauro chant. One fan had brought a sign that read JBL Bullied Me and was positioned very close to JBL and video emerged of the fan being escorted out of the arena. There was also a series of signs that read We Love You Mauro in the crowd. The story has only gained momentum with a lot of major outlets such as Sports Illustrated, VICE and the New York Post all covering the story. I know its been stated prior, but its very glaring that ESPN hasnt touched this story yet and when you have competitors such as the ones listed above on the story and youre absent, it makes ESPN as a whole come off poorly.
There has been a lot of support for Ranallo publically by people in the industry and even way more privately. It represents a crossroads in the industry for many that came up with this environment as the norm and just accepted that this behavior is part of the frat mentality. If there is enough public pressure, the company will have to respond but there is also the belief that they will ride out the negative criticism and the story will disappear. It is unknown if Ranallo will go into any depth regarding the story on his podcast with Bas Rutten this Friday (they have been off since March 13th) but he will have to say something given how much attention this story has received.
Ranallo is not popular with everyone and Im aware of people that didnt enjoy working with him in the past, but everyone knows of his issues that he has been open about in the past with bipolar disorder. Its tough for me to go into heavy depth with commentary on this story, because I worked with Ranallo for years and consider him a close friend. I saw his battles up close and the struggles he dealt with on a daily basis and to enter an environment that has a well-documented past of breaking people down and disguising it as just being part of the business is a recipe for disaster with mental health issues involved. Im not writing this with a pitchfork in hand for anyones head, I simply want to see a change in the environment and often that doesnt come as a result overnight but one that takes a massive transition and change in culture and there is no reason to assume that will happen.
My final point on this is the opinion by some regarding this matter as being overblown. I have a real problem with those that have never suffered from mental health issues to the level Ranallo has, simplifying and imagining how they would have handled the stresses of the job. There is a documentary that is being produced on Ranallo and heavily covers this element he lives with daily and its a fascinating look with incredible insight. I really wish that documentary was out already so people could see it for themselves the highs and the lows that Ranallo frequents. It is a major issue when you look at all the outlets Ranallo has worked for and only one was the cause of a major battle for him.