Mauro Ranallo

[DCLXVI]

So I am visiting some friends for Wrestlemania (long show, congrats to those who stayed awake through the entire time). My mom asks what's going on this weekend and I say Wrestlemania. She says "Oh okay, the fighting" (she calls it fighting still, this as casual of a viewer as they come if she sees it once or twice a year). I said yes and mentioned to her about Joan Lunden going into the Hall of Fame for the Warrior Award for breast cancer - since my mother is a survivor she follows that sort of thing very closely. She was happy to hear it.

I pull out my phone to show her how the WWE Network streams live on the phone and it's the NXT Takeover pre-show with Mauro Ranallo, Lita and Renee Young. Her attention span could only take so much and I was heading for wings, but every time Ranallo talked her face lit up and she laughed. She was entertained by his enthusiasm and how he called it like a legitimate fight and I could see a 50-something year old woman popping for this guy. She said "I like his voice".

I can't imagine someone like her complimenting JBL's or Michael Cole's commentary... and this was just a quick example in my mind of how a normal person would view the show. All the goofing around and plugs are exhausting to a normal audience. Hopefully they do not drop the ball with Mauro or my story wasn't too long winded... just saying, a woman who could care less about "fake fighting" grinned and her eyes lit up when this guy would get into a tangent describing holds and opponents. Announcing does matter.

 

[Skinsley]

This is music to my ears (or eyes?). Firstly, congratulations to your mother for surviving Breast Cancer...thats a legendary feat on its own.

The next is that we have proof that even the casual fan has a preference towards commentary that calls the show and not the self serving babble that goes on amongst the current RAW announce team.
The NXT takeover Announce team put on an absolute clinic by calling the matches exactly as it should be...and telling stories relative to the feud at hand rather than stories about what they bought at the supermarket last week. Ranallo does much the same on smackdown and I was not best pleased at his departure from the table to make way for JBL and Cole after the pre show. Props to Saxton who must have sat for near 8 hours without a pissbreak that night.

 

[TheBadGuy92]

Ive tuned into smack down a couple of times specifically to hear him announce from the reviews i hear on this site and from what ive briefly seen and heard. the guy is gold id like to see more of him, i think him and byron would be a great RAW tandem

 

[ShinChan]

Yeah, Mauro is really good enough.

He is surely way above Cole, JBL, Jerry and Byron.

Mauro in Smackdown has been entertaining and so is Corey Graves in NxT. The enthusiasm he brings is really amazing and that just is an icing to the cake.

Announcing by Mauro & Corey does really matter.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Mauro Ranallo is a breath of fresh air to WWE commentary. He has genuine enthusiasm, he has a lot of knowledge and it seems as though he get to ultimately say what he wants rather than having stuff fed to him. Basically, he's a good deal like Jim Ross, just without the southern accent. Like Jim Ross, Mauro's background of being a commentator for legitimate professional sports gives him a sort of natural enthusiasm that's hard for modern commentators in wrestling to match because it just seems artificial by comparison. As I alluded to, Mauro has a lot of pro wrestling knowledge as aside from working in wrestling as a commentator, he's also a fan. His enthusiasm is infectious quite a bit of the time, especially after having endured year after year of asinine commentary on the main WWE roster

 

[Papa Pillman]

All credit due to Mauro, but...

Anyone who has heard Ranallo do MMA commentary(for PRIDE, Elite XC, and/or StrikeForce) or have heard him do boxing matches or NJPW matches for AXS TV already knew he was arguably the best English speaking play-by-play guy in all of fight sports. It should be no surprise how great he's been since joining the WWE family.

But as long as we're giving commentators credit where its due, I want to commend the posters in this thread who brought up Corey Graves. Graves has easily ascended to being the best play-by-play guy the company has featured since Punk graced the booth during his late 2010 hip injury hiatus.

Like Mauro, Graves lends the commentary a sense of realism and importance that feels like legit fight sport commentary. And while I'd hate to see Graves leave his role in NXT, I'd love to see how he and Mauro would perform together as the SmackDown announce team(something I know is a pipedream as the company seems intent on letting Lawler, and his dated shtick, rot behind the mic).

 

[Harthan]

The fundamentally great thing about Mauro to me is he doesn't treat the show like a joke. Wrestling is fundamentally goofy as all heck, and commentary needs to anchor it in realism, not tear down the suspension of disbelief. This is the big problem with the Raw team right now - even on their good days, there's still JBL laughing at everything, Cole just sounding awkward and/or bored, and Saxton being a huge nerd. I mean, to me, it really kills the moment for me when a heel gets a bit of comeuppance and Saxton is like "Yeah, that's what you get!" Would you ever in a million years hear Joe Rogan or Mike Goldberg call that when a Rousey or McGregor gets knocked out? (Spoiler: you won't, because they didn't). JBL and Cole both do stuff like this too. I mean, it's one thing to comment on the personalities and agree or disagree, but Saxton especially takes it too far. Mauro treats it like a fight and takes it seriously - sure, he jokes around a bit here and there, but by and large, Mauro is there to call a fight, and that anchors the wrestling and aids the suspension of disbelief. Pretty much all the best wrestling commentators were/are this way (Corey Graves is very similar, JR is a master of this, Regal on NXT was also very good at it). Commentary really needs to become the least goofy part of WWE shows, rapidly, and I hope Mauro is the start of that, long-term.

 

[kadroan]

I wish Mauro would do RAW. If I was Vince I'd definitely look into it, if he wants WWE to be taken more seriously vs. hearing JBL, Saxton and Cole sound like they're trying to be like NBA on TNT.

 

[shalliin]

never liked mauro's voice. just something about it that rubs me the wrong way. even back on right after wrestling/aftermath back in the day when he hosted with renee paquette(young) and arda ocal(keith edwards) didn't like his voice. kind of smarmy and everything sounds like he's looking down on every one around him.
I don't mean that he doesn't know what he's talking about or doesn't make it seem serious or real, but the actual sound of his voice and the way he talks annoys me and makes me mute the tv so i don't have to hear him speak.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

Watched SmackDown for the first time in a long time after seeing it was Jericho vs Zayn (sp). If there is one voice that stood out during the episode it was Mauro Ranallo. I'm an instant fan of his commentary chops, he needs to be bumped up to RAW. Jerry Lawler wasn't even as annoying as usual, he seemed to tone down the really lame jokes a little and let Ranallo carry it more.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Maro is fine, but a bit grating. He is someone who be helped immensely by a ruthless heel color guy, which makes me pine for the day (that may never come) when Ranallo and Corey Graves are paired up.

 

[hollowpoint]

He shows a genuine interest and enthusiasm for what he's calling. Makes me think about JR. Everything JR called was made to seem like it was the greatest thing ever. Mauro is no JR, at least not right now, but the passion seems to be there and it doesn't seem scripted or staged, but organic. What most people hear is a breath of fresh air and a welcomed change. I hope he gets more prominent roles and eventually takes over Raw from Cole.