Well hes also bi polar and it is a noted sufferer of mental health issues.

Mauro is a professional and better than all the commentators in the company

I don't doubt that he's a dickhead. But you're just speculating that this has something to do with JBL being a dick and playing politics backstage. Because supposedly his friends told him in advance not to take the job or something because this would happen and have implied it was JBL that triggered him. Fact is, we don't know whether it was something JBL said in a real capacity or in character. I just tend to lean towards the latter because he was an ass about Mauro missing an episode on twitter; these guys tend to stay in character for their official social media a lot.

I'm not going to say he isn't good. I don't think he is the best necessarily but that's just my opinion. But why would someone with mental health issues put themselves in that situation? Seems really ridic to me. I'm not looking to add tension to my life if I'm already a bit mental. If anything, his bi polar disorder might explain this as he could just be overreacting to something mundane. We need more context about that.

But publicly confirming that your doctor told you that you need to take time off from social media? That's code for "My shrink thinks I'm too fragile for facebook and that I might go nuts and kill myself because someone was mean in a tweet...." I would never have said my doctor suggested it. Something like "I've got a lot going on in my life right now so I think I need a vacation and I'll see you guys when I get back" would have sufficed and not indicated how unstable he is atm. He is legit confirming he needs a safe space and that he has a shrink that cosigns to it.

And I think anyone that emotionally distraught should probably not be involved in wrestling, especially not WWE.

I could honestly see it being something like this:

Mauro: Hey JBL, can you maybe tone down the insults and shit you say to me on air a little?

JBL: Dude, I'm a heel. That's my character. I'm supposed to attack you. It's what I do.

Mauro: Yeah but it's a little much man. I just want you to tone it down a little bit, OK?

JBL: It's in character Mauro. Just deal with it. It's part of the job. I've been doing the same shtick to everyone for far longer than you've been here. I don't mean anything by it.

Mauro: I know I know but I just think you could do it a little less, that's all.

JBL: FFS DUDE GROW A SET AND BE A MAN ABOUT IT *storms off*

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Seen this video before never heard the guy though lmfao <a href="https://t.co/sT8OTKkM8D">pic.twitter.com/sT8OTKkM8D</a></p>&mdash; Alexa Bliss's Ass (@AlexaBliss_Ass) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexaBliss_Ass/status/845469777996996608">March 25, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Tom Phillips > Mauro

Just sayin'

Erroneous

CW Anderson has really let himself go

False

Sassy lil thing right there.

I hate to be that guy but you are making light of a very serious mental illness. Kind of unfortunate.

https://streamable.com/6r8nh

Semi and KO in Montreal

As opposed to you speculating that Mauro can't separate real life from fiction and is just a little bitch? JBL going off on twitter happened BECAUSE Mauro was already at home and off social media. We don't know what happens behind the scenes between them or even if JBL triggered his depression. You're the guy coming up with these fantasy scenarios with delicate little Mauro.

The guy has a mental illness, one that many other people in the entertainment industry also have, and that doesn't automatically mean he shouldn't be allowed to work in wrestling. You don't appear to understand bipolar at all.

According to Seph it means he's something between a complete and utter lunatic who should be locked up or a snowflake who needs a safe space.

I've actually never read such fucking inane ranting in my life. People shouldn't have to hide their mental illness.

Yep. Seph miles off base here.

Aside from creating fictitious scenarios of conversations that likely haven't happened he's also coming at the issue from a totally logical POV however someone suffering from bipolar and/or depression isn't likely to be logical. It's likely that nothing "triggered" his depression. His friends probably shouldn't be speculating, but Seph definitely shouldn't be.

Also, there's a difference between being a heel commentator (siding with/excusing the actions of the heels) and going out of your way to mug your colleagues off. I dare say "back-in-the-day" the best commentary teams helped cover each other's arses when they are a mistake instead of pointing it out.

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JR, King, Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon fucked up constantly but it didn't matter because they had one another's backs.

I still can't believe Seph is calling a guy with bi-polar disorder a pussy. You literally have no idea what he's going through.

JBL rules. Fuck Mauro. Clothesline from Hell his ass.

Sucks that Mauro probably won't be calling WrestleMania. He makes shit sound like a big deal. Him taking over for Michael Cole as the voice of the company down the road would have been "best for business".

I thought it was odd JBL was attacking him on air. Seemed unnecessary.

If he attacked him on twitter he probably does shit backstage too.

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Hmmm

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JBL is decent at best as a performer. And god awful as a commentator, and a total blow hard in life. Fuck his flabby Texan ass.

How anyone can think this is beyond me...... Tom Phillips, maybe...... Mauro, definitely not.

Actually it's you who doesn't understand bi-polar. I was diagnosed with it when I was about 12-13 years old. I had to do a couple stints in the loony bin to get medications right. Also went through bouts of clinical depression, some because of me, some because of the meds for the bipolar/anxiety issues. And I learned when I was a kid that you have to seperate yourself from things that might 'trigger' an episode. You don't add unneeded stress. So if he knew and all his friends were warning him that this was a toxic environment and he is predisposed to mental illness, he should have known better than to put himself in that situation. HIS FRIENDS KNEW BETTER, why didn't he?

But Mauro, who supposedly has this disorder, sure as hell isn't acting like someone who has it. That's why I clearly pointed out my confusion as to why someone with such a serious illness would even put themselves in that situation. It may be a subjective argument, but I've had jobs I consider way more stressful than being a fucking commentator and my mental situation has never ever once prevented me from being able to do my job, even when that job or someone there was the cause of my current stress or depression or whatever. The man is apparently so bad off that he can't even read social media anymore. He can't handle communication at all right now basically and has cut himself off completely from the outside world.

So I'm sorry if you think I'm callous or uncaring towards his situation. The fact is the conditions he is purported to have are treatable the overwhelming majority of the time. And my personal experience leans towards the treatments being pretty effective. So either he isn't being treated properly for mental illness, which would explain his current reaction; or he is so severe that the treatments aren't that effective, in which case he should have never put himself in this situation as he was warned about it inn advance. And if he is that severe off mentally and still chose to put himself in a knowingly toxic situation that would be likely to fuck with his head....well then fuck him, he made a dumb decision.

Or, you know, he could just be being a pussy because JBL is a dick. Every time someone is overreacting to something we don't have to attribute it to mental illness.

STIRRING THINGS UP WITH BASELESS, ALMOST CERTAINLY 100% FALSE SPECULATIONS THAT I DO NOT BELIEVE TO BE TRUE:

What if Mauro sensed his job slipping away to better candidates and pulled this..... now WWE can't fire him because it would be a "PR nightmare".... genius move!

I'll just say it like this. It's people like Mauro who cause everyone with mental illness to have a stigma attached to us. Like we need to be handled delicately for our own good.

Fuck that noise. I don't need anyone to wear kid gloves around me. I'm not going to knowingly put myself into a situation where I need to be handled with care. I don't need a safe space to live my life.

I personally believe you need to separate your own experience from someone elses. You still have no fucking clue what happened and I don't think you are representing yourself well.

I'll let you guys get back to babying Mauro now, because that's what is going to help him learn to cope with his condition. Sorry I don't espouse to the same beliefs as you in regards to this issue. Sorry I have personal experience on the subject.

I love you so much Seph but speaking as someone who's dealt with mental illness myself...I have to agree with the following reply.

I get you which is why I didn't dogpile you, but i did need a response before I responded myself. You're partially right, maybe he shouldn't put himself in that situation, but at the same time, WWE is the top of his profession, so he should at the very least try it, surely? Regardless of his condition?

There's so many versions of bi-polar that vary in severeness and it's not a one colour paints all. I know people that could deal with it 90% of the time but find a trigger point and the meds no longer work in that situation again. I think your criticism is based on your own experiences is fair, but I think your use of "safe spaces" does paint you in a different, possibly unfair light, as it's been co-opted by the alt-right bullshit. But bi-polar or depression isn't a one size fits all and it shouldn't paint any career moves in a positive or negative light.

But you can fuck off.

So everyone else can speculate that he's suffering from depression and bipolar here and blame the toxic work environment and JBL, and I can't respond to their speculations with my own? No one has a fucking clue what happened, we are all just speculating. I just chose one side and you chose another.

this is in response to Dale/Shad/etc

Yeah, blaming JBL is just dumb. Maybe he did trigger it, but I do honestly believe that even if he did know, as a broadcaster now, he may not have known. If he deleted his Tweet or whatever, it may have been a rib that went over with other wrestlers who aren't suffering with anything, but set something off with Mauro and was communicated and he may have even apologised in private. I wouldn't let Trump off with "locker room talk", but someone who actually was in a locker room, maybe I'd be OK with assuming they apologised.

We have no idea basically. It could have been JBL, it could have been nothing and he was already suffering from a low period and JBL just didn't want something negative being tweeted out when he realised. I know he's been a documented dickhead to other people back in the day, but people can grow.

So then you should know not every case is exactly the same and you know the meds aren't a 100% guarantee you'll be fine.

You are not Mauro Ranallo, you are not a "celebrity" and you don't have a predisposition for working in entertainment. The traffic on his twitter is likely huge, and anyone in the public eye gets hateful shit sent to them on a daily basis. This isn't "can't see what his friends are up to on Facebook because he'll get upset" situation.

Why didn't he listen to his friends? Maybe he really wanted to work for WWE as his dream job and didn't want his illness to stop him giving it a shot? Again, we can only speculate, but going after him because he didn't hole himself up at home in the first place is a bit ridiculous.

See this is something I can't honestly answer. I can clearly see why he would want to be there. It is the pinnacle. It could end up being his legacy and the best thing he ever did for himself, absolutely. And he is a great commentator and fully deserves to be there.

But at the same time, when seeing what his current reaction is and how severe it purportedly is, I have to assume that he and those around him knew the extent of his mental issues. Like, they have to know he is prone to these kinds of reactions where he has to completely withdraw from society as a whole to cope. That is admittedly a level of mental illness I have never suffered from. I can't act like I know what that is like. But what I can tell you, from someone who doesn't have that level of an issue, is that I still know better than to put myself into a situation that could trigger me. If his issues are that much worse, then I can only assume that he HAS TO know he shouldn't be putting himself into a toxic environment as well. I also feel like he should have maybe heeded the warnings of those closest to him in regards to the situation. They seemed to know this wasn't a good idea, and I can't believe for one second that someone as well spoken and intelligent as Mauro didn't have a clue of his own.

I still understand after all that why he took the job. Like you said, it's the pinnacle of what he does. I just think that since he had to know what the possible outcome was here, that this was a choice he made, we can't now go easy on him because of it. At least I can't. He made the choice to be there knowing full well this was a possibility and he either needs to man up and deal with it or he needs to leave for HIS OWN GOOD. If this kind of thing has any chance of happening again in the future, then he shouldn't be there. He doesn't need that in his life.

And yeah, I'm aware I'm using alt-right buzzwords. You know I'm far from alt-right, though. I'm not meaning them as an attack, but I find them to be somewhat apt descriptors here. I wouldn't be using words like triggered, or safe space or calling him a pussy to his face because it wouldn't be good for him and would be designed to just hurt him. I'm using them here because we are all outside the situation and they just seem to be easier words to use to explain what I'm trying to get at.

Lord knows, I get accused on here of needing a safe space all the time.

No, I'm not Mauro. I'm not a celebrity who gets paid to talk about pro wrestling. I just took calls from people all day long who need help, had to listen to entire families get burned alive on the other end of the line, listen to people get shot, raped, deal with parents who just found their children face down in the pool, etc....all under threat of jail time and ridiculous monetary fines if I ever fuck up and make a mistake. Nothing so stressful as commentating wrestling. Like I said, my comparison there was entirely subjective, but if you want to get down to the bones of it.....

I'm also not suggesting he hole himself up at home and not be a commentator. I'm suggesting that maybe the WWE wasn't the place for him because it is widely known to be an extremely toxic environment and he had to know it wasn't good for his mental health given the supposed severity. He weighed his options, he made the decision, and now we see the supposed consequences. I don't feel sorry for him; he knew the risks involved and he deemed the reward to be worth said risk.

Yeah, about the alt-right buzzwords, I do know you on here so I didn't think you used them maliciously or in that context, i was just trying to justify the dogpile because it is unfair.

I think where we do disagree is where he needs to leave for his own good. I'll hold my hands up and say that I fortunately don't suffer from any mental health condition, but I did live with a mental health nurse who also suffered from bi-polar disorder. If 50 weeks out of the year he's fine and something sets him off and he needs some weeks off, it shouldn't be a bad thing? I think a lot of people want to wrap sufferers in cotton wool which is where a lot of people are getting this all wrong, but let's just say JBL did cause this for arguments sake, but didn't realise and apologised, or at the very least, won't do it in the future. If Mauro just needs a few weeks then just comes back for 50 weeks and doesn't suffer, then I don't think he's made a mistake. I think mental health days should be a thing in a lot of positions and whatever happens from this, i hope it does raise positive awareness, but I'm not banking on it.

I dunno, maybe I'm just desensitized to it all at this point.

We can't judge whether it's a mistake or not until after it happens. He could come back and be fine. Or he could come back, have a worse episode, and the next time the reaction might be worse. I just don't know. And I Like Mauro. I don't want to see him suffer through this at all. I just see his reaction here, and it scares me. The way he has withdrawn....man, we're talking levels of depression here that would make some people start wondering if he might hurt himself. I don't want that to happen, you know? Sure, him being on WWE TV is great for us as fans, but at this point, is it good for him?

It's really hard to quantify something like this because it's all speculative.

Yeah, totally. The speculation from the other side thinking he should be totally protected and blame is unhelpful and we won't know what is going on unless he leaves and speaks out about it.

If he's mainly happy doing his job and it's all worth it to him and something just set him off, then great, hope he comes back. If the entire job is horrible, but he's just there because it's the best job in his profession, he should leave for his health. I don't think blaming JBL for being malicious is good unless Mauro specifically singles him out. I said before about 50 weeks and for all we know those 50 weeks could be the most fun of his career and he just needs a couple of weeks to recover from his issues and be great again.

Well-wishes are good. Blaming others when no-one has even spoken out about it is not.

You are in a completely different situation is the point, twitter for you is, I'm hoping, free of all of the shit you dealt with at work. That's not the case for Mauro, and that's why I'm trying to get through to you that "pussy can't even check his social media!" is not to you what it is to him. My point isn't about who has to deal with more stress or comparing your personal lives at all.

Nobody is asking you to feel sorry for him, but you are claiming shit like he's giving bipolar a bad name because he's taken a few weeks off work and spinning some imaginary scenario where he's a massive pussy who can't tell the difference between an on air character and real life.

Nah, my point is comparing your experiences and how it was handled within your own situation shouldn't be compared to Mauro's situation. Speaking from experience like you, some people dealing with mental illness have to be handled differently than others. Not saying your wrong at all, just saying its irresponsible to compare situations when you don't know all the facts, his mind state, him as a person, etc.

From what I've read and remember on the situation, Ranallo mainly took the WWE job because the WWE offered the most and showed a lot of interest in his talents for the booth. Think he stated it was the next step in his career as a wrestling announcer considering the WWE is seen as the #1 company in the world.

Could argue Ranallo wasn't prepared or completely underestimated how legendary WWE's toxic work environment is but at the same time the WWE was also fully aware and seemed to do little to support him. He's suffered worse bouts of depression at other companies but they were a lot more supportive than the WWE has been.

Think him being very social on Twitter and in general is mainly his way of coping with his illness but also his biggest weakness since it only takes a little of baiting for him to start going off on tangents online. The on-and-off Twitter feud he's had with JBL ever since those two got paired together being a big example.

Only reason JBL gets speculated or named as the source every time is due to how Mauro's mental health seemed to have gotten worse ever since those two got paired together. Didn't help reports for a while there were reports of the WWE hating him as an announcer and letting JBL be their on-air voice of displeasure.

this is more my thing. I don't care if people don't think it's JBL's fault, it's pure speculation. I just happen to think JBL is a big fat prick. But to just start attacking a guy suffering to combat the JBL rumours is fucking ridiculous.

I've also dealt with mental health issues. Everyone's are different.

Lol Shane Douglas was at an indie show that I went to last night. He was supposed to be the special referee but he was so fat that the ref shirt didn't fit him so he wore it around his neck.

Plus Shane Douglas fucking sucks. Fuck Shane Douglas.

amazing

You go off on his fat ass?

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400k hits and only up yesterday....

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Just when the circle jerk of this hack was dying down!

That "hack" has been WWE Tag Team (2002-09 version, exclusive to SD! @ the time) Champion, U.S. Champion, and Intercontinental Champion. He's also battled and pinned that jabroni, cancer.

You might have your own personal experience on the subject but you don't have Mauro's personal experience nor his treating physicians.

And it's pretty sad having the IC belt is the only one of those i remember.

Yeah so did my Aunt let's give her titles she don't deserve also.

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Weird :wtf:

Has anyone looked back and thought how ridiculous that there was a wrestler in the WWE named Mr.Ass. lol. It's so ridiculous.

I was watching classic attitude era yesterday and thought it was hilarious that Austin had a gun and the crowd was chanting for him to shoot Vince in the back of his head.

Can't see the match going over 3 minutes.

He was plenty deserving of all the titles he earned. The guy is a hard worker who's just done the best he could with being dealt a bad hand.

You don't have to like the guy, but FFS, at least give credit where credit's due.

It HAS to go over 3 minutes on this stage. It would just be silly for them to do a squash again at WrestleMania. That being said, I don't know how they will avoid it being so dreadful that the crowd turns on them both soon after the bell rings. I wanna say they must have a plan in mind but... WWE.

Perhaps we should take betting odds on how long the match is.

I hope it's a repeat of Wrestlemania 20 where the crowd shit all over it and then both guys piss off.

I have a feeling they'll decide day of the show to reverse course and put another match in the main event slot.

Probably Reigns/Taker especially if it will be his last match.

Would be amazing if they ended up going with Owens/Jericho!

Actually, never mind I thought that was for the Universal title but forgot it's for the United States one.

Why do you hope for a negative event to occur? Are you a hateful person in general, or just towards these particular athletes.

It's kinda weird that they've only formally announced four battle royal entrants (Mojo, Hawkins, Crews, Show) a week before the show. I'm sure everybody not booked elsewhere will be in it but still seems weird they've not had anybody else officially enter.

I'm thinking tonight will have another Big Show/Braun showdown with Braun declaring his battle royal entry, followed by Titus, Shining Stars, the cruiserweights, etc. all pouring in for some big brawl to remind people that there are going to be other participants in the match.

It's a tough call.

If it is going to Taker's last ride, then really, that should be last. But with Taker's physical condition, it might not be a great match. However, I think the heat will great, so any short comings can be made up for. And I actually think it will be one of the better matches of the night when all is said and done.

Goldberg v Lesnar should have a really cool vibe at the beginning of the match. I think it's best kept short, and that's not usually the type of match you see at Mania between two top guys, much less the show closing match. But maybe it's good to close with something different.

New "Did you kbow"

Did you know Joey Styles and Cyrus were supposed to debut in WCW in 2001 but Bischoff's deal fell through

My own opinion is it doesn't matter who is in that match. Is just a way to get guys on the show and have their moment. I actually kinda like not knowing who is in the match. Makes it more intriguing to me to think a spot could be taken by anyone vs. say shining star #2.

I'm not too surprised by that. I quite liked their bickering together.

I thought I had read that WWF had approached Styles in 2001 as well. The plan would've been to have him as the Pro-Alliance guy on one or both of Raw or SmackDown. But when that fell through they just carried on with Heyman and Tazz fulfilling that role.

I wonder if they could have done something with Cyrus. He was sooooo hated backstage though.

I read somewhere that the Acolytes to initiate the Hardy had them break off toothpicks in the locks of Cyrus's rental car lol

Yeah Cyrus never would've lasted. If he came back it would've been exclusively to book him like an imbecile and Cyrus strikes me as somebody who wouldn't come in to look like a total idiot just for the paycheck.

Shawn Stasiak being the village idiot of the Alliance was probably one of the highlights of the whole angle for me, even if it was clear the company was doing it because he still had heat.

At least its somewhat better than last year when the WWE wasn't even sure they had enough healthy bodies around for the match.

If the sheets are correct, this pretty much is just going to be a showcase match for Braun and set in motion stuff they have planned for him later in the year.

I hope all the cruiserweights (sans Aries/Neville who have their own match) are in the battle royal. Let Braun, Show, Henry, Harper, etc. ragdoll them.

I like a lot of the cruisers but shit watching them get thrown around would be fun.

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If she gets included for Mania, that's likely her final match in the WWE. If not, it was whatever match or segment she had prior to the Wellness violation.

Whichever one you prefer. ;)

As long as Tatanka sneaks in there.

Try to be positive, you'll live longer.

It is 11:30 EST on 3/27/2017. I am going to call it now...

Luke Harper rejoins the Wyatt Family on SDL.

the big swerve will be Erik Rowan returning to help Bray

likely all of the above. And both taking RKOs en route to an Orton victory.

Interesting... WWE women are a cover story for USA Today.

Not joking. Bayley hitting Charlotte with a flying cross-body is apparently national news on par with the race shooter and a potential congress shutdown.

WWE is a great example of success of women in the workplace. If you look at where the brand was in relation to women in the late 90s, to where it is now, it's worth covering. Stephanie is essentially second in command to Vince. They have key execs who are women. The athletes are now being featured as strongly as the men. The female athletes are better role models than they were in past generations. It's a feel good story.

If Bray still has all of his followers then everything Orton did would be worth nothing.

I mean I guess Bray has to go through the hassle of dealing with insurance until he can make a new shed.

This package was great.

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How would you rate in compared to Austin Aries' package?

It wouldn't be the first time during this storyline that Randy did something that was worth nothing.

Strowman's words would carry more weight there if he wasn't a nearly crippled 50 year old man's bitch.

Former WWE ring announcer Justin Roberts had a recent interview with website Memorabilia Guy and pretty much confirmed Vince is the main reason why Creative and WWE shows are a mess a lot of the time.

Also confirmed how WWE shows are done mainly to cater to Vince and not the fans.

https://memorabiliaguy.com/2017/03/2...ered-for-them/

tbh they are treated much better now than they were, Stephanie aside, as she's daddy's little girl.

Still not saying much.

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