8 WWE Commentators Vince McMahon Soured On
3. Mauro Ranallo
It isn't often that WWE acquires big names from the broadcasting world for its commentary team, but they made headlines when they signed Mauro Ranallo in early 2016 to serve as the play-by-play commentator for SmackDown. This was in an effort to give the blue brand a fresh feel with an established voice, and in one night, he made an immediate impact and found instant chemistry with Jerry Lawler.
Even before the Brand Split was instituted in the summer of 2016, SmackDown was fairly entertaining for the first half of the year with its exciting in-ring action, and Ranallo played a major role in that. In addition to his enthusiasm for the product, the best part about his commentary work was that he didn't feel as cookie-cutter as everyone else in the company.
One can only assume that was why he was brought in to begin with, but it was later revealed that was why Vince McMahon lost interest in him, too. The more time passed, the more Ranallo bled into the background, and by March 2017, he opted not to return to SmackDown after one of the year's more divisive controversies.
Thankfully, he has since re-signed with WWE and can now be heard on NXT, but you'd think Vince would have done everything in his power to keep him on their second biggest show, not allow JBL to constantly berate him and force him to leave.