"These aren't real people" - Tony Khan makes strange claim about anti-AEW fans on social media, potentially implies WWE involvement
AEW president Tony Khan has hit back at the online haters today by claiming that many of the anti-AEW accounts on social media are paid accounts and "bots" generating traffic.
Since AEW was born in 2019, professional wrestling has become a very tribalistic industry. Fans of both AEW and WWE take to social media on a daily basis to shout from the rooftops that their favorite company is superior to someone's favorite company.
Being the boss of AEW, Tony Khan has had his fair share of abuse as he is an easy target, but the president of All Elite Wrestling has apparently dug deep to find out who these "internet trolls" are. Khan took to Twitter today and attempted to expose them.
An independent study has confirmed that much of the staunch anti-AEW online community aren’t real individuals, it’s a staff running thousands of accounts + an army of bots to signal boost them. Look closely, these aren’t real people. Who’d pay for such a *wildly* expensive thing?
The tweet potentially implies the involvement of WWE by asking who would pay for such an expensive thing. It's no secret that WWE has posted record profits over the past two years, and that money (at least in Tony's mind) could be used to power fake accounts to generate as much AEW-related hate as possible.
Tony Khan took the opportunity to plug tonight's episode of AEW Rampage
In the midst of his Twitter explosion, the AEW president took the time to remind his followers about the most important thing about AEW: the wrestling. In particular, the upcoming episode of AEW Rampage.
Research this one yourselves. You internet detectives thrive in these situations.
Speaking of wild things:
You won’t want to miss
@JonMoxley vs. @WheelerYuta on #AEWRampage
@ 10pm ET/9pm CT on @tntdrama TONIGHT!
Khan has made controversial statements in the past while simultaneously plugging AEW programming, so this isn't completely abnormal. Whether his claims are true remains to be seen, but he seems to be putting every effort into promoting his company's content.
The upcoming episode of Rampage will feature blockbuster matches like Bryan Danielson vs. Trent Beretta and Jon Moxley vs. Wheeler Yuta. Also on the card, Swerve Strickland will take on QT Marshall and Red Velvet will take on Willow Nightingale in a qualifying match for the Women's Owen Hart Cup.
Do you think there's any weight behind Tony Khan's claims? Let us know in the comments section down below!
If you missed the most recent episode of AEW Dynamite, you can read all the results here.