www.pwtorch.com
Kevin Kelly, announcer since the launch of Collision last summer, fired by AEW
March 8, 2024
Kevin Kelly, who was part of the AEW Collision commentary team since the launch of the show last summer, has been fired by AEW according to PWTorch sources.
Kelly was removed from the AEW roster page earlier today. AEW taped Collision tonight and Fightful reported that the announce team for Collision was Tony Schiavone and Nigel McGuinness with Kelly nowhere to be seen during the taping.
Kelly’s posts on social media last weekend cost him his job, according to PWTorch sources. Kelly gained a lot of attention when he went on TwitterX last weekend and accused ROH announcer Ian Riccaboni of sabotaging his career and of 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,”
wrote Kelly on X.
Kelly also posted about his dissatisfaction with how he was being used in AEW.
“But the idea of what I bring to the table is lost there because Ian libeled me,”
wrote Kelly. “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.”
Kelly got off to a rough start as host of Collision, coming across as not being familiar with the product, names of signature moves, and the history of wrestlers and ongoing feuds. He had a strong reputation from his calling the English broadcasts of some of New Japan’s best events during a peak period for that company which endeared him to much of the AEW fanbase, but that goodwill went away quickly. Kelly finished last
in our poll late last year asking readers who the best announcer in AEW was. He finished with 9 percent of the vote. Excalibur finished first followed by Taz who received twice the votes Kelly received.
Kelly’s performances were seen as subpar within AEW, including Tony Khan apparently, since Tony Schiavone was called to take over the lead play-by-play role a few months into Collision’s run on TNT.
how did I miss that. Kinda thought this was a performance thing before reading all that
hope it was worth losing his job