Ariel Helwani debuted tonight on WWE Friday Night SmackDown and it did not go unnoticed. Scroll down to the bottom of this page for more.
AEW’s Tony Khan tweeted, “You’re a fraud @arielhelwani. You’re as legitimate of a reporter as @tonyschiavone24.”
For context, Khan appeared on Helwani’s MMA Hour last Fall. After the interview, Helwani said the following about Khan:
“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.””
For further context, Helwani has known WWE’s Nick Khan for years and they are very good friends. Some of Helwani’s critics believe that he shows a pro-WWE/anti-AEW bias because of his ties to the WWE CEO.
UPDATE: Helwani responded (scroll down for his response)
You're a fraud @arielhelwani. You're as legitimate of a reporter as @tonyschiavone24. #AEWRampage
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) February 18, 2023
THE SCENES!!!!
GET IN @arielhelwani!!!!#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/hpISCL0yFT
— WWE on TNT Sports (@wweontnt) February 18, 2023
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
Thanks for watching, old friend! Can’t wait for our next chat.
(Also, don’t listen to the snowman, Schiavone. You’re a legend in my books.)
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) February 18, 2023
