According to The Wrestling Observer, Ring of Honor referee and ring crew member Kevin Keenan was fired this past weekend after allegedly making advances at a female member of the roster.
The report notes that the night before ROH’s event in Nashville, some of the wrestlers, crew and staff went out to a restaurant. It was during this social outing that Keenan began making “sexual” advances towards an unnamed female member of the ROH roster, and his actions included spanking her rear end. The female employee was visibly uncomfortable with Keenan’s actions, and was subsequently told by other ROH roster members that his behavior was unacceptable. Keenan then left the establishment.
The next day, after ROH officials were informed of the incident, ROH booker Hunter Johnston, aka Delirious, reprimanded Keenan in front of the entire locker room, told him his behavior was unacceptable, and then told him to gather his belongings, leave, and not come back.
The Observer notes ROH will not be using Keenan going forward.
Yesterday, WZ was sent the following email recount of the incident by a fellow, anonymous Ring of Honor employee:
To Whom It May Concern,
I am a member of the ROH crew and was in attendance for both Friday’s load in, and Saturday’s event. I was troubled by what happened, and while I am satisfied with the action that was taken by ROH officials as a result of the incident, I am writing in hopes you will report on this, and help to ensure that something like this can be prevented from happening again.
On Friday night after the load in, several of the ROH wrestlers, staff and crew went out to an establishment in Nashville to eat and have a few drinks. Referee Kevin Keenan, who is new to ROH was present along with several big name talent who were already in town. At one point during the evening, Keenan began making unwanted advances toward a female member of the roster. This female member of the roster made it clear to Kevin that she was not pleased, and felt uncomfortable with his actions. As the night progressed, Keenan continued with the behavior, culminating at one point when he reached out and “spanked” the female talent on her butt. This occurred in full view of others, and was no accident. It was further made clear to Keenan that his behavior was inappropriate, and at that point he left the bar with a few others and moved on to another location.
Later that evening, several ROH higher ups, including Hunter Johnston (Delirious) were made aware of what had happened. They attempted to get in contact with Keenan immediately, but were unable to do so for whatever reason. The following day however, Keenan was approached by Johnston as soon as he arrived at the building. In full view of the ring crew, and several other members of the roster and management, Hunter addressed Keenan in a very forceful manner, and made it clear that his actions were not acceptable not only in Ring of Honor, but in any locker room or wrestling related function. I believe Hunter did this publically in an attempt to send a message to all those in attendance that those kinds of actions would not be tolerated. Keenan was told to gather his things and leave, and not to return to any future ROH events.
While I am thankful that ROH took the action they did to deal with the situation, I feel this needs to be reported on so that others can be aware of what happened, and prevent the same from happening in their locker rooms, both with Kevin Keenan and with others who may share the same behaviors. As a female, I was very offended, and in speaking to others that weekend, I gather that they were as well. I was also told that this wasn’t the first incident with Keenan, and that he had already been on “thin ice” as a result of past incidents in his short tenure with ROH.
I am sending this anonymously to protect myself from any backlash from other members of the ROH roster and crew. I hope you understand why but please feel free to email me back if you have any questions.
I appreciate your time and hope you will help prevent this from happening again.
Thanks,
ROH Staff Member
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
