Former UFC Champion Claims JBL "Strong Armed" Mauro Ranallo, Has A Bone To Pick With JBL
Bas Rutten isn't the only former UFC Champion to call out out JBL over his treatment of Mauro Ranallo, who has openly battled depression and bipolar disorder since he was a teenager. Ranallo's former broadcast colleague, UFC Hall of Famer Pat Miletich, wrote on Twitter that he has "a bone to pick" with JBL, noting that he "strong armed" Ranallo:
@JCLayfield I have a bone to pick with you regarding strong arming my boy, Mauro Ranallo. Let's have a man to man discussion, Johnny.
— Pat Miletich (@patmiletich) April 12, 2017
As noted, Mauro Ranallo is not expected to return to WWE television following issues with JBL, which reportedly escalated after Ranallo tweeted out results of him winning the "Wrestling Observer Announcer of the Year" award for 2016. JBL was visibly frustrated with Ranallo and went on a public rant on Bring It To The Table in March, stating that Ranallo "has a hundred and 80 something thousand tweets, and by the time this show airs, maybe 2 hundred something thousand."
"That is a problem, okay? And he [Ranallo] retweets some Internet poll," JBL said on Bring It To The Table. "We have, what, two million people who watch SmackDown in the United States alone, and you have some Internet poll with 12 people on it?"
The Wrestling Observer had reported that tension had been building between both men up until that point. Ranallo missed the following SmackDown tapings on March 14th, and hasn't appeared on WWE television since.
Chris Featherstone contributed to this article.