Tony Khan Trolls Vince McMahon Over Retirement On Twitter

Vince McMahon retired from WWE in shocking fashion on Friday, and AEW President Tony Khan didn’t pass up a golden opportunity for yet another messy tweet.

“Thanks to you wrestling fans and your great support of AEW, I’m grateful to now be the longest-tenured CEO in pro wrestling,” Khan said in a tweet.

“Thank you very much to every single person who watches @AEWonTV!”

Tony Twitter Fingers has no shortage of making headlines on Twitter. The exuberant, yet pugnacious, AEW boss has sent angry tweets to everybody from Big Swole, To Randy Orton to yours truly. Khan’s past tweets, typically sent on a Friday before Rampage, have included an announcement that he is investigating anti-AEW bots in addition to trolling WWE moving venues for Money in the Bank due to poor ticket sales.

Khan’s latest subtweet of WWE, naming himself the longest-tenured CEO in pro wrestling, is guaranteed to piss off WWE brass as the WWE vs. AEW wars continues to become petty, toxic and at times delightfully scandalous. Unfortunately, Khan’s antics seldom translate to a bump in viewership on AEW Rampage, which continues to struggle with viewership hovering around the mid-400,000 range.

Last Friday’s broadcast of Rampage garnered 435,000 viewers, which was up 2%, however viewership was down 7% in the 18-49 demographic.

Tony Khan’s tweet led to a sea of praise from his usual minions, in addition to clap backs from detractors rallying to the defense of WWE.

Vince McMahon’s has apparently retired from all roles in WWE, including creative. Though Khan is in a gloating mood, many have felt for years that Vince McMahon—and his notorious thirst for control—is the No. 1 obstacle holding WWE back from unlocking the massive potential from a very talented roster.

The rise to power of Triple H, Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan has potential to be a formidable brain trust if McMahon truly is fully retired. If Triple H’s beloved tenure over NXT 1.0 is any indication, WWE’s main roster product stands to improve by leaps and bounds. Having said that, WWE would be wise not to fall into the trap of trying to “out-indie” AEW with smaller wrestlers and a similar style of wrestling that excites the internet while alienating casual fans. This strategy that failed miserably during the Wednesday Night Wars, when WWE leaned into Internet Wrestling comfort food with the Undisputed Era and Finn Balor dominating the product.

WWE airs its first broadcast in the post-Vince McMahon era as SmackDown is set to emanate at 5:00 pm PST without Brock Lesnar. AEW Rampage, taped Wednesday, will air on TNT immediately after at 7:00 pm PST.