Originally posted by meWe're probably never going to see Mauro on a WWE screen again, and probably the only meaningful effect of all this is JBL will be forced not to be a braying donkey on commentary for the next few months. It's the smallest of victories and he'll slip back at some point. I think WWE will be content to weather out the rest of the reaction and wait for something else to distract people.
Well. That was not a good take.
Originally posted by LAWMauro Ranallo’s big announcement he was teasing for weeks was made on Thursday and it will surprise a lot of people as he is back with the WWE and will be the new lead announcer for NXT.
He'll replacing Tom Phillips, with Nigel and Percy. The report says Mauro was actually hoped to start at NXT Chicago but there was a delay and he'll start at the TV tapings tomorrow instead. Mauro again said his departure had nothing to do with "rumors", doesn't mention them again.
The LAW is definite that he'll only be on NXT, not the main roster. That would mean, as we understand it, Vince will never be in his ear, only HHH. He'd also never have to interact with JBL (but some show of public show of mutual support fits with usual WWE strategy.)
I have no idea what happened here - not just that he came back, but what was really behind why he left. All I know is WWE won.
It might have been that severe at the time, but things could have cooled down since then. More than that, this strikes me as another case where it might have been Triple H playing peacemaker and extending the olive branch. Given that Mauro is coming back to NXT to work in Triple H's promotion, where he'd have some space from Vince, JBL and whoever else might have been giving him problems before, that seems all the more likely to me.
And let's remember in all this, Mauro loves wrestling. He enjoys commentating it. Getting the chance to come back and do more of that is a win for him personally, even as it's also a win for WWE.
Canadian fans might remember back to Mauro's roots as a TV personality, when he appeared on RAW (Right After Wrestling), the Score's show that also featured Renee Young and was the spiritual predecessor for Talking Smack. At one point, Mauro became so animated talking about one subject that he let an F-bomb fly on live television. It's probably immortalized on Youtube somewhere...
Mauro and McGuinness will give a fantastic insight and commentary on NXT matches. A great move. If Mauro is allowed to do his boxing commentary as well then he is going to be having a lot of fun.