Former AEW announcer Kevin Kelly has given more details regarding his release from the company.
Joining the company in June 2023, Kelly was announced as part of the commentary line-up for the Saturday night show Collision. In March 2024, Kelly accused Ring of Honor announcer Ian Riccaboni of career sabotage and was released less than a week later. At a previous signing in June, Kevin Kelly recounted at length his side of the story, noting that he had ill feelings towards AEW and that he wouldn’t treat his worst enemy the way that he was treated. In a new interview, Kelly has given more details regarding what happened after he left the company.
Appearing as a guest on the Refin’ It Up podcast with Brian Hebner and Jimmy Korderas, Kelly stated that while he did receive a severance package from his time within the company, it was taken away within a couple of days as he “didn’t sign some form”:
And of course, they fired me and it was real just sh*tty and picky. They gave me a… what do you call it? A little severance package. Very little. Then they took it back. They put it into my account and then a couple of days later, they took it back, because I didn’t sign some form or something like that. So, it’ll all come out eventually, and when the time is right, I can say, okay, here’s all the things that happened: A, B, C, D and E. Here’s times that it happened and here’s the reason why we’re doing what we’re doing.
Kevin Kelly Considering Further Action
The acrimonious circumstances that resulted in Kelly’s exit look to be a point of contention for quite some time. Speaking in a previous interview, Kevin Kelly stated that he was considering legal action against AEW.
H/t to Post Wrestling.