REPORT: Kevin Kelly released by AEW, issues comment

Kevin Kelly has been released by AEW.

PWTorch.com is reporting that Kelly was released over recent comments made on X.

It was noted that Kelly had been removed from the AEW roster page on Thursday and was not present on the broadcast of Thursday’s Collision taping in Duluth, Georgia. The commentary was handled by Tony Schiavone and Nigel McGuinness.

When asked for comment by POST Wrestling, Kelly responded:

It’s an internal matter. We are handling it within the organization.

He did not confirm his release to us.

In a series of tweets, Kelly insinuated that colleague Ian Riccaboni had affected his career:

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.

Last year, Ian Riccaboni made comments on a Discord server and was critical of Kelly’s promotion of the 2023 film “Sound of Freedom” and its perceived ties to the QAnon movement.

Writer-director Alejandro Monteverde has dismissed the criticisms stating the film was completed before the rise of QAnon. The film stars Jim Caviezel, who has been a strong proponent of QAnon.

Kelly joined AEW last June as a part of the broadcast team for Collision and left his role at NJPW several months later, where he had been the voice on the English broadcasts since 2016.

About John Pollock 5545 Articles
Born on a Friday, John Pollock is a reporter, editor & podcaster at POST Wrestling. He runs and owns POST Wrestling alongside Wai Ting.