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ROH Denies Firing Klein While Injured
Current Ring of Honor Women’s Champion Kelly Klein is departing the company.
Klein’s husband, BJ Whitmer alleges Klein was fired via e-mail by ROH COO Joe Koff Tuesday. Whitmer states Klein is suffering from post-concussion syndrome, and her firing occured while she is still injured.
https://twitter.com/BJ_Whitmer/status/1197656657637126150?s=20
Ring Of Honor issued a statement to PWInsider indicating that Klein was not fired, but notified that they will not be renewing her contract.
“We don’t generally discuss personal issues but they seem to have made it public – we didn’t fire [Kelly Klein], we just notified her that we would not be renewing her contract.”
Fightful Select gave additional insight on the situation, speaking to several ROH talent, who sympathize with Klein during the situation.
Kelly Klein was reportedly making $20,000 per year, and was rejected an additional $4,000 a year raise. Klein and ROH have been in negotiations on a new deal, which would have gave her backpay, as well as a larger salary. Those negotiations hit roadblocks due to issues with hotel reimbursements, as well as other similar things both sides could not agree on.
According to the report, ROH women’s deals are significantly less than their male counterparts. Women talent reportedly make either $500 per date or $20,000 per year, which is a lot more than initial deals of $12,000 per year.
Negotiations between Klein and ROH reportedly began fallen a part, following tweets from Klein, BJ Whitmer, and Joey Mercury criticizing the company. ROH decided not to renew her deal, which will be expiring on 12/31.