WWE NXT commentator Mauro Ranallo was a guest on the MMA Hour earlier this week to promote the May 25th premiere of his documentary on Showtime which looks at his battle with being bipolar and more.

Ranallo went deep into his mental issues during the interview, as well as the different breakdowns that have occurred over the years, noting that at 21 years of age, one left him hospitalized the longest to the point that he resigned from his first radio job, assuming that he had ruined his chances. Ranallo noted that he lives in fear of failure all of the time and that being a public persona, all of that fear magnifies and said that he feels the safest when he is wearing a headset and commentating on live television, noting that performing is the coping mechanism he has created for himself.

During the interview, Ranallo was asked about nearly quitting his role with the WWE and walking away from being the lead announcer for WWE SmackDown. Ranallo said that the truth behind the situation was that he was not able to maintain the schedule mentally, as he was on the road every week for the WWE and was also announcing MMA, boxing and other combat sports. Ranallo said that there have been lots of rumors, but the reality of it all was that his mental health prevented him from being able to deal with the grind of the road schedule and said that he had a breakdown in Chicago at O’Hare Airport while travelling to a SmackDown taping and decided that he was done. Ranallo said that he thought that meant that he was done with the entire company, but that his relationship with the WWE has never been better. Ranallo said that becoming the WWE NXT announcer was tailor-made for him as they tape television once a month and around 5-6 times a year, they do NXT Takeover events. Ranallo said that he should have been with NXT from day one and when he was approached by the WWE, he assumed that it was for a role on WWE NXT, but they noted that they wanted him for SmackDown.

The interview is well worth going out of your time to listen to, as Ranallo talks a lot about the mental health stigma and how those who are mentally ill are treated.