Earlier this week, we told you about AEW President Tony Khan having yet another social media meltdown after clashing with whatever intern is running the USA Network's X account this week.
After it slyly poked fun at Khan's tendency to quote Cagematch ratings while discussing AEW bouts, the executive went off on WWE, fans, and even Jinder Mahal (who will challenge Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship during this Monday's RAW).
Now, WWE Hall of Famer and former TNA star Bully Ray has shared his thoughts on Khan's online behaviour.
"What good did it do? Nothing. Zero," he stated on Busted Open Radio. "You are allowing people to get to you. You are showing the world that social media is bothering you because he had to have read this HOOK outrage somewhere. Maybe a million people directly tweeted Tony Khan about the HOOK outrage and that’s what he responded to."
"If I was sitting alone with Tony Khan in a room, and he was lucid and open-minded, I would say, 'Tony, when it comes to this stuff, put down the phone,'" Bully continued. "Keep your social media positive. Use it all for good. Once you start doing this stuff, people are going to turn on you, and last night, I saw a significant amount of people turning on him."
This is indeed doing Khan no favours and it's turning even AEW's most ardent supporters against him when he goes off on one like this. It's doing nothing to benefit AEW in the short or long term and just makes him appear petulant.
Last year, we heard that there were those within the company desperate for someone to take his phone from him. Khan has made a habit of taking shots at Vince McMahon, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and WWE President Nick Khan online, but NXT crushing AEW Dynamite in the ratings appears to have pushed him over the edge.
He called Triple H and HBK "bald assholes" (for no discernable reason) and even chimed in on McMahon's controversies with a crass "joke." Later, he'd throw shade at John Cena and The Undertaker for failing to get NXT over 1 million viewers, comments which once again backfired on him.
Ultimately, an argument could be made that Khan is a fan whose wealth has allowed him to make his E-Wrestling fantasies a reality. For a time, AEW looked set to be a very real rival to WWE and, there was a period when it looked like it could challenge RAW in terms of ratings (at least in the key 18-49 demographic if not overall viewers). Those days seem to be over.
Do you agree with Bully's take on Tony's X posts?