Mauro Ranallo Reportedly "In Rough Shape" Following Corey Graves Tweets
Mauro Ranallo is reportedly "in rough shape" following the recent tweets from Corey Graves criticizing his commentary last weekend, according to Dave Meltzer on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio.
Ranallo, whose lifelong battle with mental illness was documented in the Showtime documentary BIPOLAR ROCK 'N' ROLLER, which you can watch above, missed Sunday's Survivor Series pay-per-view following tweets made by Graves the night before during NXT Takeover: WarGames, where Graves suggested that Ranallo does not allow the other announcers to get a word in edgewise. Ranallo deleted his Twitter account, and has not appeared on WWE television since.
Graves reportedly made the comments to set up an angle with Ranallo, playing off the inter-brand rivalry theme of the Survivor Series, where Graves would have brought the tweets up in a joking matter at the pay-per-view.
At Survivor Series, Michael Cole said that Ranallo "blew his voice at" at Takeover to explain his absence, and noted that Ranallo would be back at Wednesday's NXT television taping. Ranallo did not work the taping, and was replaced by Tom Phillips, who called the show with Nigel McGuinness and WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix. Phoenix stated that they look forward to seeing Ranallo back at work next Wednesday night.
Meltzer stated that Ranallo's condition had been pretty bad the last couple of days, noting that "it's a day by day thing." WWE has been in contact with Ranallo's manager, Frank Shamrock, and Ranallo will return when he's able to.
While Graves never deleted the original tweets, he apologized to Shamrock. He also issued an apology to Ranallo on the After The Bell podcast.
"This past Saturday, during the Takeover: WarGames event, I sent out a tweet. It was an unpopular opinion, as I often do with the intention of just stirring up a little controversy, maybe have something fun to talk about on TV or here on the show," Graves said. "It was maybe not the most professional way to go about things, and it was never meant to offend or disrespect or disparage anybody. That was never my intention. If it was taken as such, I apologize deeply. That was not my intention. I would never intentionally cause anybody undue stress, especially a co-worker. So, I apologize."
I was noted by Meltzer that Graves is being viewed "as the good guy" internally in WWE over the situation.
Stay tuned for more updates on Ranallo.
Just for the record guys, I know you wouldn't know it, but there's actually a WWE Hall of Famer AND a former Ring of Honor Champion on commentary.
I'd imagine they have a lot to offer.
?????#NXTTakeoverWarGames
? Corey Graves (@WWEGraves) November 24, 2019
Far, far too many.
? Corey Graves (@WWEGraves) November 24, 2019
Marc Middleton contributed to this article.