NEWS: Mauro Ranallo and the WWE have officially parted ways. The decision was apparently mutual and comes on the heels of bullying allegations against Ranallo's broadcasting partner JBL as well as Ranallo taking time off due to a relapse of his chronic bipolar disorder. Ranallo issued the following statement,
"WWE and I have mutually agreed to part ways. It has nothing to do with JBL.”
Ranallo's statement may or may not have something to do with terms that were involved in allowing him to leave his WWE deal early. JBL, Ranallo's former SmackDown Live broadcast partner released a statement of his own,
"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.”
Finally, the WWE released a statement and publicly recommitted itself to fighting bullying,
"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.”
The final part of the statement is worded exceptionally carefully by the WWE. If Ranallo made no formal complaint and then further commented on his release having nothing to do with JBL, the WWE absolved themselves of any fiscal liability. Investigating JBL is also a non-issue, if there was indeed no formal complaint and Ranallo's own statement (which may or may not be forced by the WWE) lets JBL off the hook nearly entirely. JBL's statement reveals that his past bullying incidents have already been investigated, so if there is no formal complaint and Ranallo's leaving the Company had nothing to do with JBL whatsoever, what's left to investigate?
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