NJPW has announced the departure of English-language commentator Kevin Kelly, effective immediately.
In a statement on their website, NJPW announced Monday that Kelly will not call Wrestle Kingdom 18 and New Year Dash in January, originally planned to be his swan song as the English play-by-play voice of the company, due to family commitments.
The statement reads:
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.
Kelly joined AEW as part of the Collision broadcast team when the show launched in June 2023 and announced his intention to depart NJPW soon after. Kelly cited his family as the reason for leaving NJPW, posting on X: "My wife of 32 years said she doesn't want to be alone anymore so that's why I made the decision."
Beginning with Fighting Spirit Unleashed last month, Walker Stewart took over as the lead play-by-play announcer for NJPW English-language broadcasts.
Kelly's longtime NJPW broadcast colleague Chris Charlton wrote:
感謝 Nothing but gratitude for what Kevin has done for me personally and for the wrestling community at large. Walker’s off to a great start and we’re on track for parity or near parity with live English/Japanese in 2024, thanks to the groundwork Kevin has laid.