Mauro Ranallo Leaves WWE

Newsweek reported Saturday that WWE announcer Mauro Ranallo has officially parted ways with the company. The news had been expected for the past few weeks. He will continue to be paid for the remainder of his contract, which runs through 12 August.

Ranallo has been absent from his post on SmackDown since 14 March due to health issues caused by his battle with bipolar disorder. After news broke that co-commentator (and oft-cited bully) John 'Bradshaw' Layfield triggered Ranallo's illness via repeated verbal jabs at the play-by-play man's expense, the result was a deluge of mainstream news stories about JBL's reputation for cruelty among his coworkers.

Despite calls to fire the former WWE Champion, the company has taken no action against him. Ranallo, for his part, told Newsweek, "WWE and I have mutually agreed to part ways. It has nothing to do with JBL." However, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter had previously reported that WWE was trying to work out a non-disclosure agreement with Ranallo regarding Layfield before signing off on his departure.

Ranallo, 47, was hired in late 2015 off the strength of his past performances calling mixed martial arts and New Japan Pro Wrestling shows. He debuted as lead announcer for SmackDown on the 7 January 2016 episode, but many news eyes and ears were drawn to his performances when the show went live last July. He also called the summer's much-lauded Cruiserweight Classic tournament as well as its spinoff show, 205 Live.

WWE themselves have yet to comment on the departure.