You Won't Believe Why This WWE Announcer Got Heat Backstage

WWE production supremo Kevin Dunn wasn't happy with this former announcer.

by Jamie Kennedy
Kevin Kelly WWE
WWE

The letter 'e' means so much to WWE history.

Back in 2002, it replaced the 'f' in WWF and changed things forever. A few years before that, 'e' also got one otherwise-liked announcer bags of heat backstage. This is not a joke; Jim Ross told the story on his 'Grilling JR' podcast this week, and it's incredible.

According to Ross, backstage announcer and occasional commentator Kevin Kelly raised the ire of WWE production supremo Kevin Dunn because he wanted the letter in his stage name. Seriously. Both men fell out 'cause Kelly wanted to be "Kevin Kelley", not "Kevin Kelly".

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JR's cohost Conrad Thompson couldn't believe that Kevin had been fired for something so petty. That's when Jim jumped in to say he wasn't claiming that Kelly got the boot from WWE due to that one incident. It did, however, make things frosty between he and one of the most powerful figures in Vince McMahon's inner circle.

Kelly's real name is Kevin Foote. WWE must've liked the alliteration of Kevin Kelly better, but the announcer wanted that extra little 'e' for...some reason. Dunn disagreed, and it caused some problems.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.