Ariel Helwani on Monday addressed his work with WWE last week and his testy Twitter exchange with AEW president Tony Khan.
The MMA journalist was featured in the build-up to this past weekend’s Elimination Chamber premium live event. He did the voiceover for a Sami Zayn hype video, and he was on SmackDown where he was billed as a “combat sports journalist” as if he was a character on the show.
Elimination Chamber was at Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, of which Helwani and Zayn are natives of. But the sight did seem strange especially since Helwani does work with BT Sport, who is WWE’s United Kingdom broadcast partner.
“You’re a fraud (Ariel Helwani),” Khan tweeted Friday. “You’re as legitimate of a reporter as (Tony Schiavone).”
“Thanks for watching, old friend! Can’t wait for our next chat,” Helwani replied. “(Also, don’t listen to the snowman, Schiavone. You’re a legend in my books.)”
“Good luck with the unbiased journalism,” Khan said.
Schiavone is an announcer at AEW, but Helwani and multiple WWE fans didn’t seem to know Khan’s perceived jab at the former WCW commentator was more playful and is a reference to their on-screen interactions when they are in character — this is something a producer had to explain to Helwani on “The MMA Hour” on Monday.
But it’s clear the host still is not appreciative of his October interview with Khan, which he called “the most frustrating interview in my career.”
Khan was unwilling to speak on the backstage drama at AEW, especially the situation with CM Punk. But fans believed this was an unwarranted criticism because while he gave what was viewed as a fair interview with Khan, the opposite occurred when he interviewed Paul “Triple H” Levesque in September.
In the one-hour interview, Helwani rarely mentioned Levesque’s father-in-law Vince McMahon and his scandal that forced him to re-sign from WWE. Levesque is the chief content officer of the company. He is on the board of directors, but he was not grilled as much as Khan was.
The same criticism was levied after his interview with WWE CEO Nick Khan, who holds no relation to Tony Khan. Helwani sat down with Nick Khan on Aug. 22, 2021, and fans felt he was not as hard on his former agent as he should have been, especially since Khan rarely does interviews.
But Helwani has defended his actions and did so again Monday on “The MMA Hour.” To his credit, he has been open to pointing out Khan has been his agent. He also has appeared on AEW programming and on Impact Wrestling in the past.
However, he was unapologetic, and he revealed multiple people backstage in WWE were appreciative of his comments, which confirms what Dave Meltzer said Sunday on Wrestling Observer Radio. People in WWE reportedly have said not-so-great things about Tony Khan despite their public notion AEW is not a competitor to them and they don’t think about the company that often.
Helwani also threw another jab at Khan pointing out he is the son of Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan, though the irony of working with a third-generation wrestling owner in McMahon and his son-in-in-law in Levesque has not seemed to register. There was no explanation of his “snowman” comment toward Khan.
Another point Helwani made was he is not a pro wrestling journalist, but he has multiple reports that cite WWE sources, including debunking a rumor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund purchasing WWE last month.
This won’t be the last pro wrestling fans will hear from Helwani, but his growing paid involvement with WWE will continue to call into question the ethics of his media work, especially as McMahon’s tenure as majority owner has gone unchallenged amid multiple scandals and allegations.
