Showtime boxing announcer Mauro Ranallo will become the new voice of WWE SmackDown when the show moves to the USA Network on Jan. 7th.
Ranallo has called boxing, kickboxing and MMA matches for national outlets, including the international feed for the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight. In wrestling circles, Ranallo is best known for calling New Japan Pro-Wrestling for AXS TV.
Ranallo’s work on AXS TV has been lauded by most wrestling observers, so, on the surface, this seems like a very good move by WWE. The big question here is of course, will WWE let Ranallo be Ranallo or will they “script” him, like they do with (almost) everything else on their shows?