10 Seedy WWE Stories Vince McMahon Wants You To Forget
8. Changing The Lay(field) Of The Land
A victory for ardent supporters of Mauro Ranallo, mental health in general and detractors of divisive d*ckhead John 'Bradshaw' Layfield, the persistent pressure for WWE to take a more proactive approach to his once-accepted 'hazing' resulted the Texan tosspot being booted from the SmackDown Live! broadcast booth in September 2017.
Earlier that year, relative newcomer Mauro was conspicuous by his absence on the blue brand before reports emerged that he was suffering the effects of bipolar disorder. Much of this was tied to the relentless abuse he received from colleague JBL, with Sports Illustrated reporting that Vince McMahon had been under pressure to fire JBL when the rumours reached the public.
McMahon expected the heat to disappear, but fans began relentlessly heckling the former WWE Champion with signs and calls for his dismissal. Ranallo was reinstalled on NXT whilst Layfield took ownership of the situation and announced a departure on his own terms to spend more time working on his charitable endeavours. Rather than seeing out his contract and departing, Mauro moved to NXT which - by the sound of his announcing - is a move that suited him as well as it did WWE following the scandal.