During his career, Kevin Kelly has had the opportunity to work with some of the most important federations in the world. From 1996 to 2003, he worked for the WWE. And then ventured out into Major League Wrestling, Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and, more recently, All Elite Wrestling.
However, the New York City commentator’s adventure at Tony Khan‘s playground has ended after less than a year. The former AEW Collision commentator earned his marching orders from the promotion. And now, Kelly has revealed how working for the promotion had emerged as one of the worst decisions of his life. Moreover, he also talked about his firing which transpired because of a feud with another fellow commentator.
Kevin Kelly was part of All Elite Wrestling’s commentary for a short period of time. News of his departure began to cause a stir in early March. The broadcaster’s profile was removed from the company’s official roster. Kelly showed his open support for the film Sound of Freedom. This sparked a lot of controversy because it deals with child abuse and trafficking.
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According to the commentator, his colleague Ian Riccaboni was upset by those comments. In fact, he pressured some people within the company to remove him from his job. Kelly posted several messages about it on X.
And that would have been the trigger for his exit. The commentator explained that he and Ian Riccaboni never got around to talking about their problems at the time. He also confessed that Ian Riccaboni was upset with him for a comment he made in an earlier show. When he advised Riccaboni not to wear the same hat as Jim Ross at a show. Kelly then took the opportunity to cast the spotlight on AEW’s distressing work environment.
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Kevin Kelly reveals AEW’s “stressful” environment
And now Kelly feels that he was never a good addition to AEW. He reached a point where he was psychologically unwell and expressed it to management, a move that led to his departure. “I was not a fit for AEW. I just felt like it was a very different kind of place and very stressful. So many people…there was so much chaos and it just really stressed me out a lot. I was much happier in New Japan, except for the flights and the travel.”
Kevin Kelly: I wouldn’t treat my worst enemy how AEW treated me https://t.co/utPdIMRIOA
— Wrestling Observer (@WONF4W) June 5, 2024
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Kelly got off to a rocky start as host of Collision because he wasn’t familiar with the product. He had a great reputation thanks to the English broadcasts of some of the best New Japan Pro-Wrestling events during the heyday of the company, which endeared him to a large part of AEW fans. But now it seems like AEW fans will never get to listen to the renowned commentator on the promotion again. What do you think about the former AEW commentator’s revelations? Let us know in the comments.