Tony Khan wasted little time in going after Ariel Helwani after the renowned combat sports journalist made his debut on WWE SmackDown.
On the show, Helwani was in the crowd to discuss hometown hero Sami Zayn’s big night at Elimination Chamber in 24 hours’ time. Helwani is also a Montreal native and seemed to relish his task of being involved in the show.
However, AEW President Tony Khan was less than impressed.
Posting on social media, Khan claimed that Helwani was a “fraud” saying he is as much of a legitimate journalist as AEW announcer Tony Schiavone.
“You’re a fraud @arielhelwani You’re as legitimate of a reporter as @tonyschiavone24”
Khan’s comments appear to be in response to remarks made by Helwani after he was interviewed on the MMA Hour back in 2022. During the interview, Helwani repeatedly asked questions in relation to CM Punk, which Khan batted away.
After the interview Helwani stated:
“He didn’t want to answer anything. You’re going to come on and promote X, Y, and Z, great. And I’ll play that dance with you. I did, at the beginning. But you got to give us something, to not even tell me how you were feeling.
I’m not asking for specifics, alright fine I am, but is Punk going to wrestle for you, is he coming back, you don’t want to get into it, fine. But tell me how you were feeling. Give me something.”
Critics of Helwani claim that he is pro-WWE and anti-AEW due to his friendship with WWE CEO Nick Khan.
You're a fraud @arielhelwani. You're as legitimate of a reporter as @tonyschiavone24. #AEWRampage
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) February 18, 2023
Tony Khan To Appear On Dynamite
On the February 17th edition of Rampage, it was revealed that Tony Khan will be appearing on the upcoming epsiode of AEW Dynamite. Khan will be making an “important announcement” on the show.
H/t to WrestlingNews.Co