Overcoming Your Worst to Become Your Best | Mauro Ranallo
World famous announcer Mauro Ranallo was living the dream when he was struck by tragedy. World famous announcer Mauro Ranallo was living the dream when he was struck by tragedy. This is the inspiring story of how one man found strength even in the darkest of times.
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00:00 I'm not supposed to be here. I'm actually not supposed to be alive. I thought I was going to die.
00:05 I felt like I was in prison. I was scared. I was born in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada on
00:13 December 21st, 1969. My parents, Elio and D'Willia Rinaldo, were immigrants from Italy who, of course,
00:20 like so many millions of others, came to North America looking for a better life. And they put
00:27 down roots on our six-acre farm. At a very young age, I knew that there was something a little
00:33 different with me in terms of the way I reacted to people and sounds. And I became infatuated with
00:41 television and radio. My father and I always had issues in terms of who I was and who he wanted me
00:48 to be. My dad being your stereotype of the old school immigrant dad, working hard, getting your
00:55 hands dirty, life is tough, nothing is easy, nothing's going to be given to you. I was the
01:00 antithesis of that. And it caused a lot of problems between my father and I growing up. I was an
01:07 artist. I was very ultra sensitive. I didn't like doing manual chores. And because of that, I became
01:14 even more ultra shy, where I would lock myself in my room or being almost a mute at home. So in school,
01:21 I was put in lockers, the kid that was bullied, the kid that was picked on, the kid who was made
01:27 to feel stupid, even though he got great marks. It was not a good time. It was a very depressing
01:32 time. And thankfully, one friend that I was able to make was Michael John Jansen. We lived not too
01:38 far away from each other and quickly discovered that we both shared a love of professional
01:42 wrestling. You know, other kids would make fun of it or whatever, even though most of them were
01:47 probably watching. I thought, wow, this guy gets it. We were over at each other's house every week
01:51 and doing our own wrestling matches. It got to the point we were putting on wrestling matches
01:57 in the hallway at lunch, where you would think the school, the teachers would say, OK, enough of that.
02:03 No more. They ended up watching us. There would be like 100 kids making circles because we'd
02:08 have masks. I put together storylines like we create this improv theater in the hallway and
02:14 people loved it. And we're like, wow, we're popular now. And so he and I just have this
02:19 incredible bond. We both enjoyed the same thing. We both suffered through the same thing,
02:25 you know, in terms of socially maybe being a little awkward otherwise with the girls or whatnot. So he
02:30 became another member of my family. And when I was 16, my best friend and I, Michael John Jansen,
02:36 went to the high school charity show after practice. The promoter, Al Tomko, was doing the
02:42 ring announcing. He asked if any one of us had handled a microphone before. And Mike starts
02:46 laughing, saying, well, Moro's the biggest month in the school. He's an announcer. He loves this
02:51 stuff. I end up announcing the rest of the show. At the end of the show, the promoter comes out of
02:56 the back smiling and he goes, what's your name, kid? And I said, Moro Rinaldo. He's like, I think
03:01 I have some work for you. Are you able to come to the BCTV television studios the following Tuesday?
03:07 Yes, for sure. OK, great. See you then. I didn't quite understand what had just happened, but
03:13 I had gone from being the shy, quirky class clown with dreams of being on television one day and
03:21 working for All-Star Wrestling to all of a sudden having the promoter of All-Star Wrestling, Al
03:26 Tomko, invite me to BCTV television studios the following week. My friend, Michael Jansen,
03:31 lost his mind, screaming, running down the hallway. Moro's going to be on TV. Moro's going to be on
03:35 TV. I was just enthralled with what was happening. And I'm I mean, I get goosebumps now. I was over
03:42 the moon and I thought, this is it. I'm I'm going to become a superstar. My lifelong dream is going
03:46 to become a reality. On July 7th, 1989, his sister, Debbie, phoned me. So it was about six in the
04:04 morning. I answered the phone half awake and I thought that his sister, Debbie, was laughing,
04:10 but she was in, you know, just devastated, crying hysterically, saying that something had happened,
04:16 that Michael was gone. I hang up the phone, not really being able to absorb what I just heard. I
04:23 didn't believe it, I guess. I didn't understand. I thought she was making a joke or I was totally
04:29 disconnected. It wasn't until I saw my mom that I completely lost it and realized that my best
04:36 friend had died at the age of 19 due to a heart attack. That set off a spiral downward that
04:43 resulted in me being hospitalized by my girlfriend at the time. There was a hurricane in my mind. I
04:49 felt like I was in prison. I was scared. I thought I was going to die. And I was diagnosed with
04:57 manic depressive disorder. They say that mental health issues is triggered by traumatic events,
05:03 and it doesn't get more traumatic than losing your best friend at the age of 19.
05:08 It's not easy. It's not easy.
05:14 I got really angry at the doctors and everyone else who had the audacity, the temerity to tell
05:26 me that there was something wrong with me. I'm living the dream. I'm doing more work than
05:29 anybody. I'm making more money than anyone I know. I'm helping people. I'm a good person.
05:35 What do you mean there's something wrong with me and my brain? And my 20s were a complete
05:41 and utter disaster. I was hospitalized multiple times, the longest being three months.
05:48 And the toll that it took on my family, my employment, my personal relationships,
05:55 it is truly, I believe, a miracle that I survived my 20s and my refusal to acknowledge that I was
06:01 mentally ill. So I did what was necessary. I surrendered myself to treatment. When I finally
06:10 admitted that, yes, my name is Mauro Ranallo. I suffer from bipolar affective disorder. I need
06:16 help. Then and only then did I finally get to see sustained success in all realms of my life.
06:23 It almost is because of my dad and the relationship and the struggles that we had
06:29 that proved to be the fuel that I needed. I continued to fight and proving to my dad that,
06:37 hey, your son, A, is not only going to be OK, but B, I went on and became the first broadcaster in
06:45 network television history to call MMA boxing, pro wrestling, and kickboxing on network TV.
06:51 I've called the two biggest combat sports pay-per-views in history. That is why I want to
06:56 share all of my story with people. It's because you must never truly give up. And that's why
07:05 pressure, the cliche says, will either burst pipes or create diamonds. Well, I've burst a lot of
07:12 pipes, and I'm still that proverbial diamond in the rough, I think. We're all in a fight.
07:17 Every day is a fight. It's not always a negative thing, a fight. A fight, sometimes you're fighting
07:23 for your voice to be heard. You're fighting for civil rights. All of us have a gift. Every single
07:30 human being has a gift and a purpose in life. And for the large majority, fear is precluding them
07:37 from pursuing their true path. People need people to tell them, you know what? It's going to be
07:43 tough, but you can do it. People need to stop hearing, no, you're not good enough. No, you're
07:51 not pretty enough. No, you're not smart enough. Fuck you.
07:56 [Music]