New lead WWE SmackDown announcer Mauro Ranallo recently spoke with FOX Sports and revealed how he was introduced to WWE, the differences between combat sports and pro wrestling and more. Here are some highlights from the interview:
On being a wrestling fan and returning to wrestling: “It’s the best of all worlds here. I’ve received enough blessings for a lifetime in terms of my employment. So when this opportunity arose, I was over the moon because anyone who knows me and know my story, sports entertainment has always been my first love. It’s where I started my career at the age of 15.”
On the similarities between wrestling and combat sports: “We all know the difference between sports entertainment and the combat sports that I call, but at the end of the day, they are all spawned from the same source and there’s a lot of mutual respect between the two bodies. From Ronda Rousey and Floyd Mayweather’s involvement in WrestleMania and of course Brock Lesnar, who has been able to conquer both WWE and UFC. So they wanted me to be Mauro Ranallo, championship boxing commentator with a WWE tweak and working with Jerry Lawler and Byron Saxton, I’m in a perfect place. Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler might be the most talented man I’ve ever worked with. He comes in, he’s cool as a cucumber and then all of a sudden as soon as the camera comes on, it was a dream.”
On how he was introduced to WWE: “It began, believe it or not, on Twitter. I noticed that Michael Cole, who is the voice of WWE and calls Monday Night RAW, followed me on Twitter and I was like ‘that’s kind of strange or odd but cool in the same sense.’ I thought maybe he was a boxing or MMA fan, whatever, I thought it was kind of interested. Next thing I get an email from Michael Cole and he’s asking me if I’m interested in exploring employment opportunities with WWE. I’m not going to lie for a split-second I thought maybe somebody got hacked or I’m going to be punked again like I was with Mirko Cro Cop back in the day. But I responded and from there on it was a few months ago, we connected right away and he told me what the company was looking for was really interesting for me at this stage in my career.”
