Kevin Kelly Said ‘No’ To WWE’s First Attempt At Firing Him

Kevin Kelly is a veteran professional wrestling announcer who has worked for various promotions such as WWE, ROH, and NJPW. He is known for his passionate and knowledgeable commentary, as well as his backstage roles in production and booking.

Kevin Kelly joined WWE in 1996 as a host, interviewer, and announcer. He was involved in many important segments during his WWE tenure.

Kevin Kelly recently made an appearance on the Insider’s Edge podcast where he revealed that he was about to be fired by Jim Ross in 2001. However, he refused to accept it and argued that he had too many responsibilities within the company. Kelly managed to convince Ross to keep him on board.

“I was in the process of buying a house. The closing was in a couple of weeks away. You can’t fire me. I’ve already told my landlord that I’m moving. I’m buying a house. ‘Do you even know what I do, JR? Do you even know how many hats I wear? Who is going to do all the jobs that I do if you’re letting me go? We need to talk about this because it’s not going to work for me.’ He said, ‘Okay.’ I was going to get fired, what’s the worst that could happen? He was going to shoot me with a gun? I didn’t call him an asshole or MFer, I just said, ‘Hey, no.’”

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Kevin Kelly managed to stay with WWE until 2003 when he was finally let go as part of a series of budget cuts. Kelly stated that he did not take it personally and even asked for extra months of severance pay, which he received.

“Then, when they finally did fire me, I knew it was coming, but I was the last one to get cut. It was 03 and they were going department by department. You hear about it, people getting let go. I knew it was coming. I was in the last round. Everyone was very nice. They said, ‘You were here almost seven full years. We will treat that as eight years and give you four months of severance.’ I said, ‘I did a lot of work while I was here. I had two or three jobs at a time, I would like six months severance please. I feel I deserve it.’ The lady said, ‘Okay.’ Again, why not ask? What’s the worst that will happen? I didn’t ask for anything ridiculous. I asked for a couple extra months of severance.”

After leaving WWE, Kelly worked for various independent promotions and also hosted the Lucha Libre USA series on MTV2. In 2010, he joined ROH as an announcer and later became a full-time employee. He also took on some backstage duties, such as helping with production and booking. Kelly became the voice of ROH and called some of the best matches in the promotion’s history, such as Jay Lethal vs. AJ Styles at Final Battle 2015 and Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly at Final Battle 2016.

Kelly is a true professional who has overcome many obstacles and challenges in his career. He is a voice of wrestling who refused to be silenced by anyone. Stay tuned to Ringside News as we bring you similar stories.

What are your thoughts on Kevin Kelly’s WWE career? How do you think he handled his firing situation? Sound off in the comments section.