Why Mauro Ranallo wasn’t at Smackdown Tuesday

Additional details/reporting from Dave Meltzer

It hasn’t been two months and already, Mauro Ranallo has become a fan favorite for those tuning to WWE Smackdown every week. That’s why there was a lot of concern at Tuesday night’s Smackdown tapings in Ontario, California, when Michael Cole came out to announce with Jerry Lawler and Byron Saxton instead of everyone’s favorite Canadian wrestling personality (outside Lance Storm of course.)

Fear not: the actual story is that the 46-year-old Ranallo came to the building, but was sick with the flu and the company made the decision to send him home rather than work the show. He’s still with the company, still on Smackdown, and all is still right with the world.

Some of the concern was heightened because there were so many questions asked via Twitter that got no response from the social media-friendly and president of #RetweetCity.

Ranallo signed with WWE in mid-December and debuted on Smackdown when the show moved to USA Network in early-January.