- When Mauro Ranallo was first hired by WWE, he was told to act like himself since he brought a different personality to TV and WWE wanted Smackdown to look and feel different from Raw. Things worked well at the beginning, but after a few months, Vince McMahon flipped and wanted Ranallo to be more like Michael Cole which is right about when things started to unravel.
- Ranallo was described by at least one person as being different and smart and that made him an immediate target. One employee described it as Ranallo was the "weird kid in school" and he was also reportedly bullied for his appearance and looks.
- Over time, McMahon and others became frustrated with Ranallo for his uniqueness and incredible amount of knowledge and adding Tom Phillips as a fourth man to the announce team was a clear sign that he was on the outs. However, it doesn't appear as if anyone actually told Ranallo to change his announcing style because if he was told, there's no reason to believe he wouldn't have complied.
Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Subscription information & prices available at f4wonline.com
