As PWMania.com reported, AEW removed Kevin Kelly from the roster page, which sparked speculation among fans and the wrestling community that he could be on his way out of the promotion.
The former AEW/NJPW announcer was one of the lead play-by-play commentators for Collision, alongside Nigel McGuinness. Tony Schiavone subsequently joined the announce team. Kelly was not at the commentary desk for the latest television tapings of Collision and he was not at Revolution either and would later be permanently replaced by Schiavone.
It was mentioned in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the belief was Kelly was fired, but AEW President Tony Khan has not made anything official yet to the press or to the company.
Kelly lost his job reportedly because he replied to someone on Twitter/X who asked him why he wasn’t used more often. His response was that he had been libeled by Ian, presumably Ian Riccaboni.
According to Wade Keller of PWTorch.com, Kelly was let go by the company because he accused Riccaboni of trying to destroy his career and being libelous to him.
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.
— Kevin Kelly (@realkevinkelly) March 2, 2024
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.
— Kevin Kelly (@realkevinkelly) March 2, 2024
