Mauro Ranallo has addressed the incident involving Corey Graves that caused Ranallo to permanently end his social media presence.
Back at Survivor Series weekend last November, Ranallo's commentary at NXT TakeOver: WarGames III was criticized by fellow announcer Corey Graves, who believed Ranallo wasn't letting Nigel McGuinness and Beth Phoenix get a word in on the broadcast.
Afterwards, Ranallo deacitvated all of his social media accounts and has not looked back on that decision to leave social media for good. Graves has previously apologized for his comments on his podcast, "After The Bell" and Ranallo called the whole thing, "A blessing in disguise" as he spoke about the dangers of social media, especially for people who deal with mental health issues.
?It was a blessing in disguise. I have nothing really to say about Corey Graves or anyone else in my professional existence in the sense that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, everyone is able to critique everyone the way they would. I would never do something like that to a co-worker but that has been addressed and if anything, I even publicly thank Corey Graves because he was the straw that broke the proverbial back in terms of my social media activity and I will say here and now, I have deactivated all of my social media since November and I would implore everyone, especially those with mental health issues. Social media is so dangerous to those of us with mental health conditions and I know in the media and our everyday lives now, people are being hired and fired by their social media followings or the amount of information they post or how popular they are," Ranallo told TSN 1040.
Ranallo's issues with mental health have been highlighted in the past on the Showtime documentary "Bipolar Rock N Roller" in 2018. Prior to him leaving social media, he had an active presence there, but now vows to never be back on it ever again, adding that he wishes he had done so sooner.
"I think it?s a disease. So out of that situation with my colleague, I am no longer on social media. I will never get back on social media. If anything, it was a benefit to me. I try to look towards the positive among the negatives that we all endure and for me, it just allowed me to unhook myself from the social media aspects of life. I found myself doing way too much and it ate way too much time. Being in the media, being a sports commentator for combat sports, I am following as much as I can, I know as much as I ever did. So for anyone dealing with mental health issues, I would suggest decreasing, or deactivating your social media... I know how important it is for a lot of people in terms of their jobs, but I said a big 'F-U' to social media and I wish I would have done it sooner," Ranallo said.
Ranallo remains calling NXT on a weekly basis while also calling boxing events for Showtime, most recently being the play-by-play announcer for the network's event on January 25 in Brooklyn, headlined by Danny Garcia vs. Ivan Redkach.