Renee Young & Mauro Ranallo Shoot Down Speculation on Joining WWE Commentary Teams Following JBL’s Departure

Since John Bradshaw Layfield announced he was stepping down from the commentary table at Smackdown Live, the internet has been ablaze with support for Renee Young to finally make the move up to the booth. Renee rejected the idea stating, “I would just like to remind everyone that I was never very good at commentary for NXT.”

The beloved Canadian broadcaster joined WWE in 2012 and has held numerous roles within the company, including hosting the sixth season of Tough Enough, the WWE Network exclusive Talking Smack, her very own series Unfiltered with Renee Young, and won a Slammy Award for her role on The JBL and Cole Show. Young was originally brought on as color commentary for NXT during women’s matches for a time in 2013, before taking on the role full-time for both NXT and WWE Superstars. 

Mauro Ranallo has also received some attention from fans hoping he’ll reprise his role on Smackdown Live now JBL has stepped down, but the “Bipolar Rock and Roller” is adamant about staying in his new role as the voice of NXT programming. As we reported on Monday, Corey Graves will be joining the Smackdown team alongside Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton, while remaining on Monday Night Raw as well. Nigel McGuinness will take over for Graves as color commentator for 205 Live. It looks like for now, Mauro will remain on the yellow brand while Renee Young continues her work as backstage interview for Raw and Smackdown, as well as starring on Total Divas.