Kelly Klein Details Issues With ROH, Lack of Concussion Protocol, ROH Refusing to Give Her $4,000 Pay Increase, ROH Responds

– Newsweek released a detailed article this week on the recent firing of the reigning Women of Honor champion Kelly Klein from the company. Klein reportedly suffered a concussion during an October match on the UK tour. Six current and former ROH talents and employees have stated that ROH doesn’t have standard policies in place for treating injuries, including concussions, that happen in the ring at ROH events. Additionally, they have claimed that ROH does not have any type of medical staff on hand in order to diagnose injuries that occur at events.

On their part, ROH did respond to the story from Newsweek and stated that the company has had a concussion policy that’s been in place since 2016. Klein stated on suffering her concussion, “There was [no doctor] there to check on me. Nobody suggested a protocol. I wasn’t aware or briefed on a protocol.”

Kelly Klein, Joey Mercury, and three additional, anonymous sources say they only saw medical personnel at ROH events when required by athletic commissions by states that sanction wrestling events similar to an actual sport, or when the host venue provides the medical personnel. According to the report, the UK event where Klein suffered an injury did have medical personnel on hand at the venue the night of her injury on October 26. Klein reportedly finished her match after she suffered her concussion. But later she returned to the backstage area, laid down on the concrete floor of the women’s dressing room, and started to speak in “gibberish” for an hour until her colleagues realized she was hurt.

Additionally, Kelly Klein said she suffered a head injury in ROH in April 2018 in New Orleans and “nothing happened” regarding the medical treatment she received from ROH. Earlier this month, Klein says she shared her concerns with ROH CEO Joe Koff, who then is said to have told her the company does have a policy for concussions in place, but Klein says she has never actually seen it and talent have not been informed of it if the policy does in fact exist.

The article notes that ROH did not offer or arrange to pay for her treatment for her recent concussion. Instead, she’s had to rely on the private health insurance provided by her husband, former ROH wrestler BJ Whitmer, in order to cover the cost of her neurologist appointments and rehab. Klein stated, “If I didn’t have that, I wouldn’t be able to take care of these appointments.”

Regarding how ROH will cover medical costs for injuries sustained at events, one wrestler was reportedly told they could invoice medical bills for an injury they sustained in the ring, but they were never informed how they should go about this. The source stated while they were reimbursed for hospital bills that they paid out of pocket, “It would’ve been easier had they just covered everything up front.” This is reportedly how similar injury costs sustained in the ring are handled in WWE.

The ROH spokesperson responded to the claims, saying: “When an injury occurs during one of our events, Ring of Honor covers the costs of treatment for that event-related injury. At times, certain performers see a medical professional outside of the event, which they are entitled to do. When this occurs, the performer is reimbursed.”

Also, Klein detailed her contract negotiations with the promotion. In December 2018, Klein asked for an annual pay increase of $20,000 to $24,000 a year from ROH GM Greg Gilleland. However, Klein was “rebuffed” on the idea of a pay increase of only $4,000. Klein stated on the subject of how much ROH values female talent, “There is a lack of real value of the talent in management’s eyes in general. And then with the women especially, I don’t feel that they value the women or what they’re doing or how hard they’re working.”

A spokesperson for ROH responded to Klein’s claim on her $20,000 annual contract, “A $20,000 contract is the most ever offered for the [women’s] division and is, in fact, more than what is paid to most male performers who work on a non-exclusive basis.”

Kelly Klein was told in a November 19 e-mail from Joe Koff that the company deemed the public dissemination of her e-mail exchange with Gilleland to be a breach of contract and that the company would let her deal expire at the end of the year. She added on what took place, “I’m not really surprised. I could see it was a strong possibility … I am very disappointed and heartbroken. For me to ask for them to do better, they view that as denigrating the company, which is not the case. I love Ring of Honor and that’s why I want Ring of Honor to do better.”

The ROH spokesperson said on Klein’s exit, “[ROH does not] comment on internal personnel matters, but we reserve the right to continue or terminate contracts according to their terms.”

Additionally, the article details issues and complaints against ROH GM Greg Gilleland and CEO Joe Koff. The article featured images of a text exchange between Gilleland and Mercury where the contract for Maria Manic expired after Gilleland appeared to forget to renew her contract. He stated via text, “Maria …while intriguing and full of potential…is not going to make us millions.”

Two sources who worked directly with ROH’s Gilleland and Koff said that they and others have made direct complaints to Koff and ROH human resources on Gilleland, but no action was ever taken, One source claimed, “Greg creates a very unsafe work environment for everybody. Joe does as well, Joe is an enabler.” The other source added, “Joe always takes up for Greg, he can do no wrong … he protects him from everything.” The source went on to state that management tries to pin the blame on employees or talent instead of taking it on themselves.

Kelly Klein is currently planning to stay recover for the rest of 2019. She still plans on continue her fight to help better the working conditions for wrestlers. She stated the following:

“I imagine part of the thought process behind trying to shut me out of Ring of Honor was that maybe the issues would no longer apply to me. And I’d just drop it. But it’s not ever been about how things could benefit only me. I want my friends and colleagues to have a safe and fair work environment. I’m still going to ask them to do better. Taking away my job there does not change the issues. I want them to be accountable for creating an unsafe environment, and the only way I know how is to have enough eyes on it that the public will have to hold them accountable.”