On the latest Keepin’ It 100 podcast, Konnan commented on Tony Khan’s interview with Ariel Helwani. Helwani later said that it was one of the most frustrating interviews he’s done because he couldn’t get Khan to open up to him on some of the questions that were asked.
Konnan said, “If you’re gonna go do an interview, you know you’re going to be asked these questions, you should have at least said during the interview, ‘I can’t because there’s legal aspects to it.’ But like Ariel Helwani said, ‘Alright, just tell me what you were thinking. You can’t even tell me what you were thinking?’”
“I think what Tony’s problem is, you know, he’s gotta get his head out of the sand. He’s too busy hoping nobody talks bad about them. The honeymoon period is over, bro. You know, at the beginning, you were new. You were hiring all these people. It was a fresh product. But, you know, you can’t go around with rose colored glasses. This is a cutthroat business and you got a lot of immature people in your business. You got a lot of toxic people in your dressing room.”
“They were mad at me because I had wrestlers tell me, ‘Hey, you shouldn’t have said what you said.’ Well, I wasn’t wrong, and Tony didn’t like it. I mean, there’s a problem in the dressing room. I wasn’t wrong, address it. I don’t think it does any good for you to go out there and say no comment, no comment. I know there are some legal issues because I actually asked Kenny Omega if he could send me a video for TripleMania, whoever wins between Vikingo and Phoenix because, you know, he’s the number one contender, and he goes, ‘I still can’t because of legal issues’, so there is something legal going on. Tony should have said at the beginning of the interview, ‘Listen, if you ask me anything about Punk, if you ask me anything about The Young Bucks or anything like that, I can’t. We’re going through legal issues and until that recourse is settled, I can’t’, but you can tell Ariel what you were thinking.”
“He’s so polite about it, but at the end of the day, it’s very rare for Ariel, who is very professional and very credible, to say what he did. He said it was one of the most frustrating interviews he’s ever done.”
“What’s it gonna hurt you to say, ‘Well, you know, I don’t think what Punk said he should have said, but what could I do? He said it, you know, or whatever, but, you know, no comment. I can’t comment. I’m sorry, my friend, I can’t comment.’ It’s almost like these guys that go in front of Congress and they’re like, ‘I can’t remember and plead the fifth.’ Then what the f**k did you come here for if you can’t remember.”
“Even if it looks bad that people go back to WWE, big deal. It’s better to take the toxicity out than keep it in there. Either that or you’re just gonna have to sit a lot of people home and not let them in the locker room. It’s not a good look, dude. You’re the head of the company. Man up. I like Tony, but I don’t gotta keep saying that all the time. That’s besides the point.”
Click below for Konnan’s podcast and scroll down further for Tony Khan’s interview and Helwani’s comments made on Wednesday.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Keepin’ It 100 with Konnan with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
Ariel Helwani says interviewing Tony Khan last week was one of the most frustrating interviews of his career
(via The MMA Hour) pic.twitter.com/6dlPuizXlZ
— WrestlePurists (@WrestlePurists) October 12, 2022
