Kevin Kelly Fired By AEW

Kevin Kelly is reportedly gone from AEW.

According to a new report from PWTorch, Kevin Kelly has been fired by AEW. The report comes after the announcer was removed from AEW’s roster page, and was absent from the commentary desk at the March 9th taping for Collision with Tony Schiavone and Nigel McGuinness calling the action.

As reported by PWTorch, Kelly was let go after a recent outburst on social media. In a series of posts, Kelly accused Ring of Honor announcer Ian Riccaboni of sabotaging his career and libel.

“When you go out of your way to intentionally mischaracterize my raising awareness of the global horrors of child trafficking to a fringe conspiracy theory that everyone knows is bulls–t in order to hurt my career and standing in the industry, that at the very least is libelous.”

In another post, Kelly said he’d been sidelined by AEW.

“But the idea of what I bring to the table is lost there because Ian libeled me. So I sit on the bench, valued by my peers, waiting to get my number called, keep asking why but get pushed aside. It’s okay, because there is no one better than me. Ask the ones that know and they’ll tell you.”

The report closes by saying that Kelly’s performances were seen as “sub-par” by AEW boss Tony Khan.

When Did Kevin Kelly Join AEW?

Kevin Kelly joined AEW in June 2023, taking up a position as part of the announce team on Collision. The appointment was initially seen as a positive by fans, with Kelly regularly praised for his work with New Japan Pro-Wrestling between 2015 and 2023.

However, he came in for criticism after struggling in early episodes.

Kelly began his career in wrestling back in 1991 and joined the WWF in 1996. The announcer remained with the company until 2003 before going on to appear for MLW and ROH.

While Kelly has left AEW, Jim Ross has agreed a new one-year contract.