The PWTorch is reporting that veteran commentator Kevin Kelly has indeed been fired by AEW.
Kelly left NJPW last year to join AEW. At the time he stated he was doing so to be closer with his family.
He debuted for the promotion on the first episode of Collison working alongside Nigel McGuinness. He did not work any AEW tapings this week.
Kelly’s departure stems from a back and forth he had with ROH announcer Ian Riccaboni over the film “Sound of Freedom” starring Jim Caviezel.
On X, Kelly stated: “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.”
He also wrote: “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. I keep asking why but get pushed aside. It’s ok because there is no one better than me. Ask the ones that know and they’ll tell you.”
Riccaboni posted what he thought were private messages on Discord about the movie and his discussions with Kelly. He characterized Kelly as promoting “QAnon movies”. Kelly has denied that over and over again stating the movie just made him more aware of child trafficking overall around the world and he took that to heart since he is a father.
TOP PHOTO: Kevin Kelly at the Icons of Wrestling Convention & Fanfest on Saturday, December 17, 2022, at the 2300 Arena, in Philadelphia, PA. Photo by George Tahinos, Slam Wrestling, https://georgetahinos.smugmug.com
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