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Mauro Ranallo talks New Japan Pro Wrestling on AXS TV, Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight and more

Legendary announcer Mauro Ranallo sat down with philly.com recently to discuss New Japan Pro Wrestling on AXS TV, which is set to begin its second season on Friday, May 22.

Here's the transcript of the interview:

Vaughn Johnson: How are you feeling going into this new season of New Japan Pro Wrestling?

Mauro Ranallo: It's been a blast. I've never received more love in my life for anything that I've been involved with and I've been involved with a lot. It's quite humbling to have as much from my peers, from people who I respect and from fans in general. Josh [Barnett] and I were very excited to get back in the studio.

Johnson: How do you think the first season went?

Ranallo: I thought it exceeded expectations. I was blown away by the response from the fans, the media and people in the business, people I look up to who are just very kind in their response, in their words and I've never received more praise in my life. It's also put pressure on us to make sure we continue to give the fans what they want. I come from a place of being a fan first and foremost and to be able to do professional wrestling at its highest level is something that as a child I envisioned doing and was very lucky to begin my career as a 16-year-old pro wrestling announcer/heel manager my native British Columbia.

Now, here we are nearly 30 years into my career and to be able to call pro wrestling, and not just any pro wrestling but New Japan Pro Wrestling, it really is a blessing and something I don't take for granted or lightly. That's why you hear the passion and I hope the preparation that is involved.

Johnson: What are some of the adjustments you're making this time around?

Ranallo: One of the takeaways from season one and myself in general as a broadcaster, I'm a very energetic, a very intense announcer, especially of sporting events, but I always try to find my peaks and valleys more fluidly. I'm working on letting the action maybe speak for itself a little more. It's something I think all broadcasters need to be cognizant of, but at the same time, I'm trying to tell the story the best way I see fit.

In terms of New Japan Pro Wrestling, because they're still trying to cater to a new audience as well as the die-hards, I'm trying to maybe fit in a little bit more who these wrestlers are and why this match is important and yet trying to find a happy medium as well. In remains a work in progress, but again, we don't take the praise as a sign that we can rest on our laurels. We're always trying to get better. I'm still trying to do that overall in my 29th year as a broadcaster. You never stop wanting to get better, you never stop learning, but we're just [picking up] where we left off — just telling the story of this incredible action and the golden age of pro wrestling right now, courtesy of New Japan Pro Wrestling.

Johnson: Is there going to be any changes to the format to the show?

Ranallo: It'll be the exact same format, a one-hour presentation with subtitled interviews and looking back at the cards, but I hope and I feel that down the road not too long from now we're hopefully going to be caught up to date and I know there's a lot of interest to try to do something live or even more on a weekly basis, where we're caught up on the rest of the New Japan calendar. This is still wanting to introduce fans to a product that we couldn't have picked a better time than what happened in 2013 and 2014, when New Japan really presented not just some of the best pro wrestling action of the year but maybe some of the best pro wrestling in its history. I know that's saying a lot, but until you're seeing it yourself, with no lesser authorities than Dave Meltzer from the Wrestling Observer calls one of the episodes of our first cycle the greatest hour of pro wrestling he's ever seen, that carries a lot of weight and I don't anyone that's watched more professional wrestling than Dave Meltzer.

Johnson: You mentioned that you're hoping to get caught up and I was wondering what was going to happen when you do get all caught up? Could you call matches maybe a week after they happen or maybe announce a major show or pay-per-view?

Ranallo: All of that sounds good to me, my man and like I said, as I see it right now I was contracted to do another 12 episodes. We've done six already. We're going to get together again in the next couple of weeks and finish off the G1 Climax tournament from last year, which is being hailed as the greatest professional wrestling tournament in history. Believe me, some of the action we've called I agree with that 100 percent.

I believe the goal, if the support continues to be there and the numbers continue to grow on AXS TV, the goal is to hopefully go almost live as it were and carrying the weekly products from New Japan Pro Wrestling. I know that I'm very excited at the prospects of one day hopefully doing a New Japan Pro Wrestling event live. I think it would be awesome. That's definitely something I'm very interested in doing, but right now, we're doing these next episodes, 12 total, which cover Dominion and the G1 Climax tournament from last year and after that we'll have to wait and see what happens.

Johnson: What has the response been from New Japan? I'm sure they're excited to have television over here in the United States.

Ranallo: I think we exceeded their expectations. I remember the first session of tapings we did where after the first day they were sporting smiles widely. Having had my own history in Japan with Pride Fighting Championships, it meant a lot for me to have that response. I'm very fond of Japan and its rich tradition in the martial arts and puroresu.

Johnson: How tough is it to maintain that enthusiasm you have and that excitement you have when you're sitting in a sound booth? Is it tough to maintain that over a day of tapings?

Ranallo: We're all born to do something in this world, my man, and I was born to do what I am doing. I really think that's the only answer I can give you. I've been like that since day one and blessed to do exactly what I've wanted to do when I visualized my career as a child as an entertainer, performer, and commentator. It's been like this. I've gone to Japan in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 calling the biggest MMA events in the world and coming home and calling a 9-year-old minor-league lacrosse game for community television in my native British Columbia and maintaining the same level of enthusiasm because I know it's entertainment, I know it's a sport, I know what these individuals are putting on the line and I want to capture that. I want people to become emotionally invested in all of it. It's not hard. When you're passionate about what you're watching or you're seeing and knowing you get the best seat in the house, even though we're in a studio thousands of miles away, it may be after the fact, but I just put myself in the moment.

I'm there ringside at the Tokyo Dome for Wrestle Kingdom 8, which we did last season. I'm there ringside for the final of the Best of the Super Juniors tournament you're going to be seeing on Friday between two incredible talents. I know the action has already happened, but I don't want to play spoilers in case you're someone who's new to the show and want to check it out for the first time. You're going to see the semis and the final on Friday. We really kick off the second half with that proverbial big bang. It's amazing stuff.

Johnson: We just had one of the biggest boxing matches in history with Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. What were your thoughts about it?

Ranallo: I got to sit at ringside and call it for 150 countries with Andre Ward, so it represented the biggest benchmark of my career and unlike so many other people who I guess had never seen Floyd Mayweather fight before — I have had the pleasure of calling four his pay-per-view matches, now five in fact — we saw what Floyd Mayweather is all about. He's one of the nest defensive fighters of all time, a master counterpuncher and someone who is able to drain the drama out of the fight because of his natural skills.

Manny Pacquiao had his opportunities. He hit him once in that fourth round with that straight left that buckled his knees, hurt him again later and has his opportunities, but unable to capitalize. Like many of us expected, it was a sweet science lesson for Many Pacquiao yet I found it still quite interesting and I know Andre Ward did as well. I think we saw a lot differently than most and maybe that's because I was just so excited to be ringside calling the biggest fight of this generation. I thought it was another example of what Floyd Mayweather brings to the ring. I'm a boxing enthusiast and I know that boxing is not just about the brawlers. Believe me, my favorite fight of all time is Jose Luis Castillo versus Diego Corrales one and I love [Arturo] Gatti-[Micky] Ward, but I also can appreciate guys like Willie Pep, Pernell Whitaker and now Floyd Mayweather.

Johnson: What did you think of the negative reaction the fight garnered?

Ranallo: I'm not surprised in the social media atmosphere Thankfully, there were 4.4 million there with the pay-per-view numbers, but a lot of people put down their money just getting swept up in the hype. They probably couldn't even pick Floyd Mayweather out of a police lineup or maybe not even Pacquiao because they were just caught up in the hoopla of the event and that's their own fault. I understand the criticism. Believe me, I get it and yeah, maybe it wasn't what people would have like to have seen but it was what I anticipated. You can only call what you see and what I saw was Floyd Mayweather doing what Floyd Mayweather does better than anyone else in this generation. Yeah, it's not the most entertaining but until somebody pushes him or someone is able to solve him, and you'll have one more chance if he stays true to his word and retires after his next fight in September, then that's what it is.

It's like calling the left wing lock, the neutral zone trap the New Jersey Devils used to win Stanley Cups years ago in the NHL. Believe me, that was boring, but it was effective. The Baltimore Ravens won a Super Bowl. Can you name the quarterback of that Super Bowl team? It was their defense. It is what it is. I don't even pay much attention to the response. People are allowed to have their own opinions. I thought it was just a master class from Floyd Mayweather and whether Manny Pacquiao's torn rotator cuff impacted the match or not, he had his moments but like so many others, unable to do much with it.

Johnson: What was the atmosphere of that fight like compared to all of the other atmospheres you've been in?

Ranallo: It was unlike anything I've ever experience. Having been in front of 45,000 in the Saitama Arena in Japan where we have always well chronicled what Japanese crowds are like. It's almost eerily silent, but it's only because they're such studious individuals and really studying the nuances and really investing all of their focus and attention on what's happening in the ring whether it's in Pride or now New Japan, and they're reacting as the action intensifies, so I've had amazing nights of atmospheric representations.

Looking around that night, just everywhere you looked there was a high roller, an A-lister, a world-class athlete, it was surreal. There's a part of me that wishes it was held in a stadium where real boxing fans that have supported both athletes in their careers could see the fight maybe at a more affordable price, but I understood what this represented. They called it the "Clash for the Cash." It was in the fight capital and I said that the capital was in that fight. Money really was a huge part of it as we now know, but it's still an amazing atmosphere for the simple fact that some of the famous people were in attendance. To know that I was sitting ringside getting paid meanwhile just a few feet away from me, someone was paying six figures for a ticket, hey I felt pretty good.

Johnson: Financially that fight was a massive success. What do you think is missing from wrestling that could make it a huge success again?

Ranallo: I think all things considered that WWE has to be pretty happy where it is right now. I know that their attendance in March was near 7,000 paid, according to the Wrestling Observer. Coming off WrestleMania, which the attendance was large … they blew up their pay-per-view model putting all of their events on the WWE Network and it's an experiment to see what the future holds. If they're able to continue to create compelling programming, utilize their characters with layers to them and allowing them to be truly who they are … in NXT there is so much potential and so many great talents in NXT and right now one of my favorite promotions behind New Japan, Ring of Honor, Lucha Underground and all of the rest. I watch as much professional wrestling as I can, but I like what's going on with NXT and if that is the future for WWE then I think it's going to be just fine. Just like anything else, to me that's why New Japan separates itself.

I like to see more of the in-ring storytelling. I like to see less of the interminable promos and silly skits. They have a tremendous roster. Right now, we're in a golden age of talent in the business. If they just be allowed to be who they truly are then I think it would be an amazing time for professional wrestling and it still is. Their ratings may not be the best right now, but that's because they're seeing the same thing over and over as well. You always want to try to keep things fresh and inject new talent and I'm quite intrigued what's going on with Neville now and Kevin Owens and people like that. Wrestling business is about stars. Let's face it: Entertainment is all about stars. People get invested in or people they either relate to or wish to be or are inspired by, so it's about character development. That's always a work in progress. That's always the fuel for the engine.