| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1986-01-28)January 28, 1986 (age 39) Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. |
Spouse(s) | Kyle Kraven (divorced) B. J. Whitmer[4] (2019–2020) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Kelly Klein Mary Elizabeth Monroe[1][2][3] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) |
| Billed weight | 162 lb (73 kg) |
| Billed from | Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Trained by | B. J. Whitmer Jimmy Yang Les Thatcher |
| Debut | 2006 |
| Retired | 2019 |
Kelly Klein (born January 28, 1986) is an American formerprofessional wrestler. She is best known for her time inRing of Honor (ROH), where she was a record three-time and the finalWomen of Honor World Champion.[5]
Klein made her debut atRing of Honor (ROH) on October 24, 2015, at Night 2 of theGlory By Honor XIV event inDayton, Ohio, defeating Ray Lyn in one minute viasubmission.[6]
Klein made her televised debut on the June 26, 2016, episode ofRing of Honor Wrestling, fromNashville, Tennessee. In the main event of the first ever episode ofWomen of Honor, she defeatedTaeler Hendrix via submission.[7] On the December 14, 2016, episode ofRing of Honor Wrestling, the second WOH special, she facedODB in a winning effort when ODB passed out to Klein's submission.[8]
As a heel, she went on an undefeated streak in ROH until it was ended byKaren Q with help fromDeonna Purrazzo during an event in May 2017. This led to atriple threat match in July in the 3rdWomen of Honor event, which Karen Q also ended up winning. Klein later defeated Purrazzo in another singles match on the July 29 tapings, with the win coming after Karen Q turned heel and attacked Purrazzo.[9] In 2018 Kelly Klein entered the inaugural ROHWomen of Honor Championship tournament but on April 7, 2018 atSupercard of Honor XII lost toSumie Sakai in the finals.[10]
At the 2018Final Battle event, Klein won theWomen of Honor World Championship[a] for the first time, where she defeated the champion Sumie Sakai in aFour Corner Survival match, which also involvedMadison Rayne and Karen Q.[12] At Night 2 ofBound By Honor on February 10, 2019, she lost the title toMayu Iwatani, ending her reign at 58 days. Klein regained the championship on April 6, 2019 at ROH'sMadison Square Garden debut, theG1 Supercard, and shook hands with Iwatani afterwards, turning face in the process.[13] Klein was attacked afterwards by the debutingVelvet Sky andAngelina Love, who were joined byMandy Leon (The trio asThe Allure.), with Leon turning heel by attacking Klein from behind.[13]
On September 27, 2019 atDeath Before Dishonor XVII Kelly Klein lost the ROH Women of Honor Championship to Angelina Love.[14] On October 12, 2019 atGlory By Honor XVII Kelly Klein regained theROH Women of Honor World Championship from Angelina Love.[15] Making Klein the first & only women to hold the ROH Women of Honor World Championship 2 & 3 times.[16][5]
On November 22, 2019, it was revealed that Klein would be let go by ROH whilst recovering frompost-concussion syndrome and while still being the reigning Women of Honor World Champion. She previously spoke out against the company onTwitter for refusing to pay her aliving wage and ROH not having a concussion protocol and not allowing her time off to heal frominjury. It was these comments that reportedly led to ROH deciding not to renew her contract.[4]
On October 14, 2017, Klein made her debut for theWorld Wonder Ring Stardom promotion by entering the Goddesses of Stardom Tag League tournament. She ended up winning the tournament along withBea Priestley.[17] Following the tournament, Klein and Bea unsuccessfully challengedOedo Tai (Hana Kimura andKagetsu) for theGoddesses of Stardom Championship.[18]
In August and September 2018, Klein competed in the Blue Stars block of the 20185 Star Grand Prix, in which she scored a total of eight points.[19]
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