Kevin Kelly ‘fired’ by AEW after ex-WWE announcer’s social media rant accusing Ian Riccaboni of sabotaging career
ALL ELITE WRESTLING have allegedly axed Kevin Kelly after his controversial social media outburst.
The 56-year-old started his career on the independent circuit before landing a tryout with WWE as a ring announcer in 1996.
He has since gone on to become one of the most famous wrestling commentators on the planet.
Kelly had enjoyed long stints calling the action for Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling before signing for AEW last year.
He was brought in to work on AEW Collision alongside Nigel McGuiness but it seems that his frustrations within the company have boiled over.
Kelly was due to be show’s lead announcer but Tony Schiavone took over that role in October as he joined the former and McGuinness to form a three-man booth.
And now his time working for Tony Khan’s promotion is reportedly over after a series of posts on X.
Wrestling fans initially noticed that Kelly’s profile had been removed from the roster page of the AEW website.
He was then absent from the Collision tapings in Atlanta on Thursday as McGuiness and Tony Schiavone sat in the commentary booth.
Now various outlets have stated that the posts he made last weekend that questioned why Khan was not using him more and that also accused colleague Ian Riccaboni of sabotaging his career and committing libel against him have led to him getting axed.
Replying to a fan that praised his commentary style with New Japan Pro Wrestling, Kelly wrote: “I do the same thing in AEW because it’s critical to explain the why.
“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.”
He was then asked by another follower to elaborate on his allegation that Riccaboni libeled him.
He replied: “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 bull***t in order to hurt my career and standing in the industry, that at the very least is libelous.”
AEW have reportedly yet to respond to requests for comment regarding confirmation that the posts were behind them firing Kelly, while Riccaboni has also not made any public statement.