Kevin Kelly has called his last event for NJPW and will focus on AEW moving forward.
Having previously provided English commentary for multiple New Japan events since 2015, Kelly will now focus his time calling the action on Collision. Kelly made his debut for All Elite Wrestling back in 2022, calling the action at the first Forbidden Door pay-per-view.
Kevin Kelly explained his reasons for departing the promotion on a recent episode of the AEW Unrestricted podcast:
“Because my wife said, ‘I don’t want to be alone anymore.’ I’m not lying. We’ve been together 33 years, married 30. I told her, when the time is right, you tell me and I will stop going to Japan because I’ve been gone weeks at a time, months at a time. Come home briefly, go back weeks at a time. We’ve all missed birthdays and family vacations and those types of things, but when you’re missing Christmas and you’re missing New Years and you’re missing anniversaries and you’re missing everything, it just gets to be too much.”
A statement from NJPW has confirmed that the broadcaster is no longer a part of the promotion and has finished up his commitments early. Kelly was set to commentate on Wrestle Kingdom 18 in January 2024 but is now unable to due to prior family commitments.
The full statement from New Japan Pro Wrestling is as follows:
Thank you for supporting New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
Kevin Kelly, who has been the English voice of New Japan broadcasts since King of Pro-Wrestling 2015, has departed NJPW to pursue outside opportunities.
Kevin was originally planning to join the English broadcast of Wrestle Kingdom 18 on January 4, but will be unable to attend due to family commitments.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling joins fans in their gratitude for the work Kevin has done to grow the English-speaking audience for NJPW, and for countless memorable calls over the years. We wish Kevin the very best in his future.
NJPW Announces Cross-Branded Match For Wrestle Kingdom
The main event of Forbidden Door saw Bryan Danielson achieve a rare submission victory over Kazuchika Okada. The American Dragon suffered a broken arm in the match and was said to have suffered a broken orbital bone in their next encounter on October 25th, even though Danielson had already suffered the injury on the previous episode of Collision. The rematch has been announced for Wrestle Kingdom 18 after Danielson challenged The Rainmaker via video.