AEW president Tony Khan slams WWE after losing a one-off war on Tuesday night as he targets John Cena and The Undertaker and sets his sights on Vince McMahon
- WWE had over 300,000 more viewers than AEW in their last head-to-head matchup
- Both Cena and The Undertaker appeared on the WWE show at times to attract viewers
- Former owner McMahon ran the WWE for several decades before a takeover occurred
All Elite Wrestling president Tony Khan caused a stir on social media with a series of tweets aimed at promotional rival WWE.
Khan, who has built AEW from the ground up since its inception in 2019, appears to have set his sights on the WWE since entering the wrestling business, turning his own into their biggest competitor.
On Tuesday, AEW’s main show, Dynamite, took on WWE’s NXT, the promotion’s developmental brand and third show after RAW and SmackDown.
Dynamite was relocated to host the MLB playoffs on Wednesday, which meant it didn’t have to stand alone to compete with the biggest wrestling promotion for viewers.
WWE gained in the ratings, which clearly left Khan, who is also involved with Premier League club Fulham, in a tizzy, and he made the announcement on X on Thursday.
AEW President Tony Khan has caused a stir on social media with a series of posts targeting WWE on X
Khan took aim at WWE legend John Cena, who appeared on the show to boost ratings
Hall of Famer The Undertaker also appeared on NXT in the closing moments of the show
The post that garnered the most attention was directed at WWE legends John Cena and The Undertaker, who appeared on NXT.
Knowing they would be going up against AEW, WWE loaded their Tuesday card with the likes of Cena and The Undertaker, as well as popular stars LA Knight, Rhea Ripley and Cody Rhodes.
Overall, Dynamite had 609,000 viewers, WWE reached 921,000 – a real stunner – but Khan still found a way to target his rival.
“This week saw the end of two active, decade-long ratings series by two great legends,” he posted. “With all due respect, until this week’s head-to-head matchup with AEW versus TBS and WWE in the US, neither John Cena nor Undertaker had ever been on a WWE show with less than 1 million total viewers + less than 400,000 in the Demo.”
He also used his platform to take shots at former WWE owner Vince McMahon, who was recently investigated over allegations of sexual misconduct. He remains connected to the company.
Responding to a post in which he claimed McMahon had “the power and influence to take cheap shots at them,” Khan replied, “Yes. Vince has allegedly used his power and influence to take a lot of shots.”
Khan also took aim at former WWE owner Vince McMahon, who was recently investigated over allegations of sexual misconduct
He also took time to respond to a number of other users who seemingly tried to discourage him and succeeded while targeting NXT main man Shawn Michaels.
According to Wrestling Observer, AEW believes Khan should step away from social media.
He received a lot of criticism online, with some wrestling fans even suggesting that his words could turn fans away from AEW programming.
Dynamite will return next week on Wednesday nights, with NXT remaining on Tuesdays.