Per a report from Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Dave Meltzer, former SmackDown Live commentator Mauro Ranallo’s decision to leave WWE initially was not so much because of the bullying allegations from former colleague John Bradshaw Layfield (JBL). Instead, Ranallo’s decision to leave was because of the culture being created by Vince McMahon backstage. JBL’s on-air comments towards Ranallo did play a part in the decision, but it is believed that the comments were coming from someone else.
Meltzer also revealed that one of the terms in his WWE return was that he would work with and report to Michael Cole and Triple H directly instead of McMahon. People close to the situation feel that because everything was resolved, JBL made his own decision to leave SmackDown Live on a regular basis and it had nothing to do with the Ranallo situation.
