ROH COO Joe Koff Addresses Kelly Klein Concussion Controversy

Ring of Honor has been the center of controversy as of late after Kelly Klein, Joey Mercury, and BJ Whitmer all spoke out about issues they have faced with company management. In response, ROH COO Joe Koff recently took part in an interview with SI.com.

Klein’s criticisms of ROH center around the company’s protocol regarding concussions. The 3x WOH Champion suffered a concussion recently and said that no medical personnel was at the event to diagnose her condition and ROH talent is not aware of any existing protocol regarding concussions.

“The issue is that no one received training or protocol to recognize what to do when something is wrong,” Klein said. “The problem is that no one has the protocol, no one has seen the protocol, and no one is in charge of making sure the protocol is followed.”

“No medical personnel were ringside,” said Klein regarding the night she suffered the concussion. “No medical personnel were in the immediate backstage area.”

Speaking with SI.com, Koff said that in contrast to Klein’s statements, a medic was backstage at the show.

“It is not posted, we don’t share documents like that publicly,” said Koff regarding the concussion protocol. “When [Klein suffered her concussion] on October 26, there was a medic there, hired by Ring of Honor, and she got immediate attention once it was known she was feeling anything.”

“The protocol is just this—we recognize the dangers that are inherent in professional wrestling,” Koff continued. “More specifically, the possibility exists of a wrestler suffering a concussion during a match, and we take all injuries very, very seriously. When we are alerted or when we feel there is an injury, we immediately defer to the medical professional on staff.”