Kellyanne opens up about her experiences with Ring of Honor.
In February of 2020, Kellyanne signed with Ring of Honor and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Australia-based talent was not able to make her way over to the U.S. to begin her run in the company. After the 2021 Final Battle pay-per-view, Ring of Honor is going on a hiatus and noted that they are aiming for an April 2022 return.
Several months ago, Kellyanne and Session Moth Martina had a meeting with ROH’s Maria Kanellis-Bennett and another ROH official and they were told that they were going to be coming in-in September. Kellyanne shared further details about that conversation and the final result of it during an interview with Vince Russo.
And so yeah, when we were left unanswered, me and Session Moth [Martina] especially were pretty upset because me and her were very excited. We’d both been on the indies for a long time and it felt really good. So, for this not to work out, it just sucked but as I was saying about the meeting, we had a meeting a few months ago with Maria [Kanellis-Bennett] and I forgot who else and they basically said, ‘You’re here in September. You guys could come in as a team, it’s gonna be amazing, can’t wait. Share it on your socials, get it all going, all right?’
I have no problem with her at all [Maria Kanellis-Bennett]. I think she’s fantastic, amazing, whatever. But, to be told that, I was holding onto that for these past two years. All I had was this hope [of] Ring of Honor working out to keep me going through this.
After the month of September went by, there was still no communication between herself and ROH about the next steps. She then received an email from Ring of Honor General Manager Greg Gilleland. Kellyanne was told that her contract with the company is null and void and she added that it was an emotionless and empty email.
So when September [2021] came and went, I knew something was up. No communication at all again, once again my articles are not getting shared that take hours to do and I’ll never forget it, I woke up one morning as I do and I open up my emails and there’s an email from Greg [Gilleland] and I’ve gone, ‘Oh cool.’ I open it and it is the most empty, emotionless email I’ve ever received and I couldn’t believe it and I’d like to read it out if that’s okay because it’s so blunt and I felt like sh*t. Is that okay? This is dated 2nd of October. That’s right, so a couple of weeks ago. ‘Good afternoon, I hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Unfortunately, I’m writing this sad news. The U.S. Government has come back yet again with another request of evidence. For some reason, they aren’t pushing your visa through. At this point, we aren’t in position to keep paying the attorneys to keep revising and submitting the case without guarantee. This would mean your contract with us is null and void. I’m deeply sorry that didn’t work out and I hope there may be an opportunity in the future.’ Two years and no appreciation, no communication and to say ‘null and void,’ like I couldn’t believe it. It just felt like I’d just been thrown away. It felt crap.
Kellyanne stated that she does not believe what Gilleland said in the email about the visa situation. She mentioned that Slex and Adam Brooks’ visas were secured without any problems.
She thinks ROH processed their visas before hers. Slex was able to make his Ring of Honor debut in February 2020. She said that they could have been flying back and forth for the past year and when it comes to the visa, she was never asked to provide Ring of Honor with proof of evidence that they can submit to the U.S. Government, which is what Gilleland listed as one of the reasons why the process was taking so long.
I don’t believe what Greg [Gilleland] said in the email and I say that because Luke [Slex] and Adam [Brooks] got their visas with no problem. They processed the boys’ visas before mine, and look, I’m not saying, ‘Oh poor me, I’m a girl,’ whatever. I’m not. However, I was the only one that was really doing anything from here. I was the only one that was trying to do something and I was providing them content every week. So to not have any acknowledgement or appreciation from him when he fires me, I don’t care who you are, I’m still a human and he’s a human being too. At least acknowledge the work that someone has done for you and I know I’m not anyone, right? I’m not Stone Cold, I’m not HBK, all right, I’m not. But I’m still a person that’s dedicated their life to this and I’m still a person that signed your contract with the hope of trying to help your company because it needed it, especially with the women’s division. So, I don’t believe that he’s being sincere and yes I understand that Ring of Honor went through a hard time as every company did. But when every other company can fly people in and out, why can’t Ring of Honor? And it’s not hard. Once the visa is done, all you need is to write an exemption and we could have flown over. We could have been flying back and forth the last year but he just didn’t. He just didn’t. I looked it up, I researched it all and the fact that this visa had a problem and I wasn’t asked about it. I wasn’t asked to provide any evidence which is what they’re meant to do, that pisses me off too because I contacted the visa people myself and they said everything was fine. ‘Everything’s gonna be fine.’ So what happened? And he’s not being true because he hasn’t responded to me. That shows someone that is weak and gutless because I said to him, ‘All I want from you is to tell Adam and Luke what’s happening’ because they have their families, Luke has kids. This is their lives, you can’t just mess around with it. Especially during a pandemic.
Kellyanne announced that she will be stepping away from in-ring competition but is going to remain involved in the wrestling business. Her last match was in July in Australia.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit Vince Russo’s The Brand with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
