Ariel Helwani was recently invited as a guest on the last episode of SmackDown before Elimination Chamber. Being a Montreal native himself, he was there to question the fans on their opinion of hometown hero Sami Zayn. However, Tony Khan did not take it too well. The AEW President took to Twitter and let Helwani what exactly he thought of him. The Combat Sports journalist recently revealed what the reaction backstage in WWE was to the tweet.
Also read: Triple H and Shawn Michaels Once Had a Backstage Fight for Real in the WWE
Tony Khan called Ariel Helwani a fraud and compared him to AEW announcer Tony Schiavone. In response, Helwani thanked TK for watching the show and asked Schiavone not to listen to his boss before telling him that he was a legend in my eyes.
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
Ariel Helwani reveals backstage reaction in WWE to Tony Khan ‘Fraud’ tweet
Helwani revealed on The MMA Hour that word spread like quickfire backstage. There was a lot of chatter regarding the tweet. Some even wondered if it really was Tony Khan.
“The amazing thing was how the whole thing spread backstage. Everyone, ‘you see the tweet? You see the tweet?’ This is amazing. ‘How could he…was that really him.’ Yeah, I guess it was really him. He doesn’t follow me, but I guess it was really him.”
Helwani also felt sorry for Tony Schiavone catching a stray in TK’s criticism of him before calling the whole situation bizarre.
“I kind of feel bad for Tony Schiavone; he was insulted in the process. Bizarre.”
Ariel Helwani did not know how Michael Cole was going to introduce him at Elimination Chamber
Helwani also revealed that he had no clue what Michael Cole said about him until he got backstage. The WWE commentator simply told him to wait till he hears how he announces him.
Helwani was simply out for the live shot with UFC legend GSP, not paying attention to the broadcast. He then went back to his phone blowing up and finally learned what Cole had said about him.
“Now, we got to Saturday, we end having the live shot with me and GSP, I wasn’t paying attention to the broadcast. Michael Cole, a freaking legend, sees me before the show and says, just wait till you hear how I introduce you. I’m trying to put over GSP, the crowd is going nuts, this all feels like an out of body experience. I go to the back, my phone explodes because of what Michael Cole said.”
“The unbiased, world renowned combat sports journalist Ariel Helwani who asks all the hard questions whether you want to answer them or not!” – Michael Cole
Yep, that’s our guy! 🐐#WWEChamber pic.twitter.com/w2VIGhrUEh
— WWE on BT Sport (@btsportwwe) February 19, 2023
Helwani revealed that everyone backstage was celebrating what had just happened. He received several high fives and compared the whole thing to feeling like he was in the middle of the Monday Night Wars.
“This is like the Monday Night Wars, and I’m in the middle of it, like, what is going on, everybody is going nuts over this. I’m getting high fives in the back, I didn’t do anything, it was incredible.”
Helwani added that this wasn’t a work. He apologized to TK for the Jaguars losing to the Chiefs and Fulham being a mid-tier club. He wondered by the AEW president was so upset with him when he actually praised him and his wrestling promotion several times in the past.
The MMA Hour host then compared TK to Dana White before stating that he wasn’t afraid of either. Helwani concluded by saying that it was a fantastic weekend and “loved every minute of it.”
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